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Good comments. On Fox this morning, I heard that the Saudis or other middle-eastern energy countries might tighten supplies as the election approaches so as to hurt the economy and defeat Bush. Wonder why.

Hunting in the oil patch in NM is not off limits, but there is not much to hunt! Most animals are nocturnal and not hunting species.

The biggest problem with oil drilling (or any other activity out there) is that the footprint of man will remain long after the wells have been plugged and area has been cleaned up. Roads cut in an area that receives less than 6 inches of rain in a good year remain essentially forever. Even small off-road vehicle ATV's leave a foot print. This, essentially is what the environmentalists are fighting for -- keep the area pristine so no roads show up on maps or aerial photos in the future. It is essentially an aesthetic thing with them -- they may never visit it, but knowing it is untouched (essentially) gives it worth in their value base.

I think most of us have a tolerance for some disturbance in our environment (or else we would never build a new house on an undeveloped lot). And not many of us would want a large permanent power plant blocking our view of a spectacular vista. But when it gets down to constructing a short road to a small drilling pad, temporary in nature, to produce something of economic value, most of us would allow the development to go forward. Our value system can balance the amount of disturbance with the economic value obtained and feel comfortable with that. Not so the environmentalists in this case. They are radical in the sense that their value system does not allow for this choice to be made and they are tenacious in their opposition to it.

Well stated.

In our area we went through a period where we were forced to jump through every hoop to preserve critters that live in the oil fields, despite the fact that they preferentially live in the oilfields because no one bothers them there. If it weren't for the oil development, they would be cattle pastures, or irrigated and farmed, and the animals in question would have been forced to move on long ago.

That kind of interference seems to have abated some. I think the oil companies have all started paying off the environmental groups, and have won some peace in recent years.