This is disappointing news. ;-(

Alaska oil drilling myths
http://tinyurl.com/b7xvc

If you want myths, you should look at that list of yours.

Counterpoint: here



Most compelling to me is the argument that drilling, even if it does turn out to be low-impact and high-yield, is still a "band-aid" solution which doesn't address the long-term problem:

Some of the solutions are simple. For example, upgrading the quality of replacement tires to match that of tires that come as standard equipment on new cars would save 7.3 billion barrels of oil over the next 50 years. That's more than the total amount of oil likely to be recovered from the Arctic Refuge over the same period.

Updating fuel efficiency standards to reflect the capabilities of modern technology would produce even greater savings. Increasing fuel efficiency standards for new passenger vehicles and trucks to an average of 40 miles per gallon over the next decade would save 60 billion barrels of oil over the next 50 years -- 11 times the likely yield from the Arctic Refuge.

If oil, a non-renewable resource, becomes a precious commodity in next few decades would it not make sense to drill in ANWR now? It seems as though we could regulate the drilling more now when oil is still plentiful, as opposed to not allowing drilling now and having an oil shortage hit us hard. When people become desperate they tend to ignore the niceties of environmentalism and civil liberties. This is how Bush managed to dismantle the Bill of Rights overnight with Congress in complete agreement after 9/11. This is also how, I’m afraid, not drilling now could be disastrous for the future of ANWR. Thoughts? I’ve always when against drilling for oil, but would we just be postponing the inevitable. Are we really going to kick the oil addiction before we start to run out?

   There are several problems surrounding ANWR. The first is that we should be focusing on getting away from oil, not figuring out where to drill next. I do not have a problem drilling in ANWR. It is a small, practically empty area in a huge arctic wasteland. The picture that is used in this article is very misleading. Picture instead a barren plain as far as the eye can see.

   The problem that we have is that we are still using oil. I'd much rather let the price of Gas go to $5/gallon and let market forces push people away from driving gas guzzlers than continue to drill oil wells, no matter where they are drilled. Also, if we have to drill, lets drain the Mid-East dry before we tap our own resources.



In summary, don't drill in ANWR until the mideast is used up, and hope that we can be off of the oil habit by then.



David