The long and very solidly Red State of Alaska has long hoped and dreamed for Oil Production to commence in Alaska.

Alaskans have long wanted drilling to begin for Oil in Anwar because they know it would be a boom and major boost to their state and their economy. But enviromentalists, of which I am one and have been a charitable contributer to at least three enviromental groups/orgs. for many years..have long taken the position that we don't want to disturb the 'pristine' natural setting of the vast massive Alaskan wilderness.

But, I have changed my mind.

Look, I love a postcard pretty picture of Caribou in the wild overlooking an frozen Alaskan Tundra just as much as anyone. But, having grown up in Upstate New York and gone to college in the great still wild and woolley Allegheney Moutain region in New York, I can tell you for certain that the drilling of a small portion in Alaska is not going to harm ,change or hurt the vast beauty or the disturb the wild life up there in any way whatsoever.Because, I know the vastness of the area and the wild life is so extreme and dense that drilling small areas of the region is not going to harm or make a dent in that massive wild arena.

Wild areas still abound despite civilization and the influx of production and the use of it's natural resources.In New York State in the Adirondacks and the in the south western portion of the state it is still so wild, so lush, so completely overflowing with wildlife and natural beauty and resources that you literally can not drive down the gorgeous,curving, winding, mountain roads without encountering at least 6 different types of wild life crossing your path very few miles.

And the little critters continue to abound despite an almost nearly free for all attitude regarding hunting.

In fact we enviromentalists have really done a good deal of damage in regards to issues with the Brown Bear and the Mountain Lion by over protecting them to the point now that they encrouch daily into suburban areas in search of food.So, acclimated many of them have become over time, in associating humans with food, because of some of our more silly policies and the exploitation of these animals for shows (back in the 1920.s)and curbs on hunting them, that some of these forms of predatory wildlife have become increasingly dangerous and a threat to our safety.

But back to Alaska..To think that if we had started drilling in Alaska in 2001, by now we would be reaping some of the benefits of the Oil we could have already obtained and we wouldn't be in the situation we are now in with the Saudis.

The Saudis have us by the short hairs as they take our own money for Oil and then fund their own USA hating Madrassas and it is just a shame.

There is more Oil in Alaska, Montana and North Dakota than all of the oil in Saudi Arabia itself...it just needs to be drilled.

It seems past time we began!

Good for John McCain on this one.

Of course Obama says he is against it because he says,' it will take 5 years to get the oil out of there'.So, he says he 'opposes it'.

Again,if we had started drilling in 2001 we would have it at our disposal now.

Isn't a president supposed be forward thinking and a leader? I think that is what McCain is showing here by his new proposal.

McCain is right on this and Obama is so worng.

Because ,really someone BETTER DO SOMTHING.

We can not go on the way we have been regarding this energy crisis and our problems with the Middle East factions that we give our money to for oil, who in turn,then fund schools teaching that we are The Satan Infidels.

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and it ain't going to happen. I'll explain later. No time for you and your silliness right now. I'm very disappointed in that fucking whore of a Senator we got right now.

You don't like John Kyl? Why not?

Jack

Alaska has long hoped and dreamed for Oil Production to commence in Alaska.

Of course, you know they've been producing oil there for years, right? North Slope, pipeline, blah blah blah.

There is more Oil in Alaska, Montana and North Dakota than all of the oil in Saudi Arabia itself

Why are you hiding this light under the Fray's bushel? The rest of the world believes Saudi Arabia has about 12.5 times the oil reserves of the entire US.

The fact is that ANWR oil, even if it were in full production today, would be about 1% of world production. That $3.99 gasoline I put in my car would have been $3.95. Yippee.

Look at it this way. Fuel prices are at all-time highs. If you were an oil company sitting on a bunch of oil, this is precisely the time you would want to bring that oil to market, to take advantage of the high prices. The simple fact is that increased US drilling benefits the oil companies enormously more than it benefits you or me or the economy.

Did I just hear that Exxon Mobile reported the highest quarterly profit?

Ever?

By any company?

In the history of the world?

If you don't own shares of the company, Laurie, or if you don't have oil industry lobbyists running your Presidential campaign, you should get back on the side of the mooses.

You think drilling ANWAR represents "forward thinking?"

Eventually, we will have to endure the pain of transitioning away from oil dependancy. The only people who benefit from drilling ANWAR today, are people who will be dead in 20 years (or sooner), when we're right back where we started. For the rest of us, we're just borrowing against our future happiness, in hopes something else falls in our lap before the bill comes due. Maybe you're ok with that, but its anything but "foward thinking."

I don't like Kyl, but at least he has more integrity than Mr. McOilslut.

Not so Ron52. That's because we aren't drilling what we have.

We've got it..in Montana ,North Dakota and Alaska we just need to lift the bans to go after it.

Also.. Bush just came on TV with a news conference and declared he now is immediately proposing to lift the Ban against drilling in Anwar,too.

He also claims that if we had done this eariler we wouldn't be where we are right now with gas prices and beholden to The Saudis.

He claims the massive amounts and barrels of Oil we could get and will get from the region in the USA up North will provide enough fuel in a year than what we currently get from the Saudis in many years.

How about that?

Looks to me like this was calculated move by the GOP...whereby, McCain decided to come out with this proposal yesterday and now Bush holds a press conference saying he is moving to lift the ban on drilling up there immediately as well.

I don't see it as a bad move in anyway shape or form.

I don't know why Obama would be opposed to it.

With gas prices the way they are and with our money going to Middle Easterners many of whom do not have our best iterests at heart...I doubt many Americans will be against using our own resources either.

well ducadmo. I do think our engery crisis is a serious one. And I imagine you assume it is silly because the majority of The Congress is currently democrats and they will oppose the Proposal due to pressure from the far leftists enviromentalists.

But I do believe that since now today just an hour ago, Bush called a Special News Conference to announce he agrees with McCain and he is issuing an immediate proposal to start drilling in Alaska too that this is an issue that The American people will likely get behind.

If they inform their Congress people they want it.... we can get it.

So it certainly can happen.

Your post is total bullshit. The facts you state are not in evidence.

Jack

... to a bowling ball, isn't it?

If we slant drill under the Middle East or Siberia or Central and South America, but I'm not sure our current drilling technology is up to snuff.

It is forward thinking CE. And that is one of the key roles a The President. (to plan well for the economic and physical security of The Nation)

And that is the word from every person who has thus far addressed this on cable news since McCain and Bush announced this yesterday (McCain) and at a Special News Conference just now(Bush).

All of the so called 'talking heads', on cable news, on all channels agreed that it is the responsibilty of the President or potential presidential candidate to be forward thinking not just consumed with immediate band aide type thinking.

We need a plan that can be put into immediate action.

Drilling the oil is only one component of what needs to be done. As both candidates have declared we also need to do research on alternative fuel sources. That in fact, will take more time to enact than the drilling of Oil Up North.

The results of drilling would have faster results and relief to the energy crisis and some immediate help to the economy of the region.

We certainly can no longer afford to wait.

Again, good for McCain and Bush. And why or when will Obama get on board?

We know he has already issued a statement saying he opposed it..because as his reasoning(sic) goes.."it will take 5 years before we have the oil'.

Because we do know Obama has a history of ever changing his positions on things..so, I expect him to get on board when he sees Americans want the Oil from own natural resources.

We need to get free from beholden to The Saudis.And we need the oil.

So be careful not to put the idea down too much..as with the position Obama took on his pastor..his position changes like the wind...so he is saying he is opposed to it at first blush...BUT, he is certainly bound to change it and get on board with this too once he sees people want it.

then do your patriotic duty, get a smaller car, drive less, carpool, take a bus when you can, get your fat ass off the sofa and walk.

Actually, if you just stopped drinking, it would significantly reduce the price of ethanol. About as much as ANWR is going to lower the price of gasoline.

The only answer is to get off of the oil crackpipe. Anythink else is what drug addicts when they run out of drugs call tweaking.

You are not going to steal the oil that rightfully belongs to our future generations. How fucking dare you.

I can't stop laughing. Damn you!

And - Thanks!

Oh my lord, ducadmo..my oh my but you are a mad one today. Dear lord. What an awful modd Mccain and Bush's latest proposal has put you in.

Love it.

Here's the article about Bush's proposal an hour ago.

Enjoy!

President Bush, accompanied by Vice President Dick Cheney, makes a statement in the Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington, Tuesday, June 17, 2008, after meeting with officials about the Midwest flooding. (AP Photo/Ron Edmonds)

WASHINGTON — President Bush plans to make a renewed push Wednesday to get Congress to end a long-standing ban on offshore oil and gas drilling, echoing a call by GOP presidential candidate John McCain.

Congressional Democrats have opposed lifting the prohibitions on energy development on nearly all federal Outer Continental Shelf waters for more than a quarter-century, including waters along both the East and West coasts.

With oil prices soaring and motorists paying $4 a gallon for gasoline, political pressures have been growing for more domestic oil and gas production.

"The president believes Congress shouldn't waste any more time," White House press secretary Dana Perino told The Associated Press on Tuesday.

"He will explicitly call on Congress to ... pass legislation lifting the congressional ban on safe, environmentally friendly offshore oil drilling," Perino said. "He wants to work with states to determine where offshore drilling should occur."

Bush also will reiterate his call for development of oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska, Perino said. McCain has opposed drilling in the refuge, maintaining that the pristine areas in northeastern Alaska should be protected from energy development.

On Monday, McCain made lifting the federal ban on offshore oil and gas development a key part of his energy plan. The Arizona senator said states should be allowed to pursue energy exploration in waters near their coasts and receive some of the royalty revenue.

Bush has made clear in recent weeks that the drilling moratorium in coastal waters should end to allow for more domestic oil production and help "take the pressure off the price of gasoline."

Democrats, as well as some Republican senators from coastal states, have opposed lifting the drilling prohibitions, fearful that energy development could harm tourism and raise the risk of oil spills on beaches.

Sen. Barack Obama, the Democratic candidate for president, opposes lifting the ban on offshore drilling and says that allowing exploration now wouldn't affect gasoline prices for at least five years.

Congress imposed the drilling moratorium in 1981 and has extended it each year since by prohibiting the Interior Department from spending money on offshore oil or gas leases in virtually all coastal waters outside the western Gulf of Mexico and in some areas off Alaska.

President George H.W. Bush imposed a separate executive drilling ban in 1990, which was extended by President Clinton and then by the current president until 2012.

Bush has been considering lifting the executive ban as a symbolic move to get Congress to take action, but he decided against doing so for the time being, said an official who spoke on condition of anonymity because internal deliberations were involved.

The House Appropriations Committee was scheduled to vote on legislation Wednesday that included a provision that would continue the drilling moratorium into late 2009. Rep. John Peterson, R-Pa., planned to try to strip that provision from the bill. A proposal Peterson offered last week that would open all federal waters 50 miles from shore to oil and gas development was rejected by an Appropriations subcommittee on a 9-6 party-line vote.