This is crap. ANWHR has at most 6 months supply for the United States. It will do us no good unless we use it carefully (and Bush has no plans for that)It is a pittance compared to what the Saudis have which amounts to 25% of world reserves. Iraq has 17%. Plus, the Middle East is the cheapest place in the world to get it out of the ground at about $1 per barrel compared with $12 in Alaska. That alsomeans that if the price of oil falls, ANWR becomes economicall unviable.
If you ask a commodities trader, he/she will tell you that a global product like oil is only affected by global supply. Adding Alaskan oil will add to the supply, but only using less oil will permanently make the US less dependent on foreign oil.
If tainting ANWR is a necessary step to weaning ourselves off of oil, I am all for it(If it isn't it necessary it is a stupid sop to big Oil. - Why crap on your lawn when you have a toilet?). We need to switch to alternatives energies asap. I know oil is the best thing around, but the bad news is that we don't have that much of it (only 4% of world reserves including Alaska). We are smart enough, wealthy and innovative enough to overcome the challenge of declaring our independence from the Middle East and getting ourselves off of oil and on to something else (Nuclear, clean coal, biomass, solar, wind, etc.).
Oil is our Achilles heel and this administration isn't doing anything to change that.
And for you imperialists who just want to take the stuff - if we build an empire, we will destroy everything for which America stands.