The Bush Administration's answer to our dependence on gas and oil, the dependence that has left over 500 U.S. troops dead and nearly 10,000 injured in Iraq (and of course, a lot of Iraqis, but no one knows how many, and a few reporters and some nice people from the United Nations): drill it out of fragile, irreplacable Arctic wilderness. Or, as the Department of the Interior calls it, "National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska (NPR-A)."
Some birds and whales may wonder what destroyed their their migratory rest stops, but that is a small thing when compared to the American SUVs, exempt from fuel efficiency standards, needing to get to highway rest stops. Dad, I gotta go!
The petro-spoils from the NPR-A should supply American needs for six months at current usage rates, folks! Who knows what it will cover by the time the Friends of Bush & Cheney, Inc. are actually pulling it out of the ground!
Alaska Wilderness League's backgrounder on the NPR-A
Environmental News Network (by AP): Interior finishes plan to open nearly 9 million acres in Alaska to drilling
A helpful map, courtesy of The Olympian (WA)
Well, not everyone's smoking a cigar: Rocky Mountain News, out of Colorado, reports that Area gas producers feel left out by Norton.
Well, whatever. I guess it will all be melted before the century's over, anyway.
