Anwar, we can't do anything there, we'll kill all the caribou

Just a little perspective..


The environmentalists are weaving yet another story of destruction and doom if we develop a 2,000 acre area in the Artic National Wildlife Refuge to drill for US oil. The postage stamp on a football field image is pretty accurate although the greens seem to want you believe that there will be an oil rig on every hilltop and every valley. Lets say the enviro's are right and the production area doubles or triples in size. Oh the catastrophe! now we would be talking about a place the size of a playing card on the area of a football field! Oh no!


I remember doing a report on the Trans Alaska oil pipeline when I was in grade school. I remember our 'progressive' teacher explaining that the pipeline would disrupt the migration patterns of the caribou and would ultimately lead to their extinction. Its a good thing we took pictures of them so we could show our kids what caribou looked liked. Oh that's right, the 800 miles of pipeline, roads, pumping stations and other development in a place the size of Alaska didn't upset the caribou, did not lead the their extinction, and didn't have a meaningful impact on the surrounding environment.


The current fight over Anwar isn't about the environment, it isn't about the animals, its about America. If you think the United States of America is destroying the planet, you will oppose doing anything that will increase domestic oil production, period. Never mind that China is bringing 20 coal fired power plants online each month or that it has surpassed the US as the number one greenhouse gas emitter on the planet, lets keep America dependent on foreign oil from the most unstable ares of the world. Good idea.

I am all for solar and wind energy, really I am. Right now solar and wind energy account for less than 1% of energy production in the US. Less than 1%. Don't let the environmentalists fool you, they always use the term renewable energy, most of that comes from hydro-electric dams, when was the last the Sierra club was in favor of building a new dam? (sound of crickets)

Innovation is the future of energy, and when solar and wind become economically viable, they will play a larger part in domestic energy supply. Until then, we need more nuclear energy and we need oil, preferably from our own backyard. Or we can sit back as China and India continue to buy a greater share of the world's oil supply. How does $250 a barrel oil and $10.00 a gallon gas sound?

Doing nothing isn't an energy policy, its economic suicide.