The post is based on this article: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ibd/20060508/bs_ibd_ibd/200658issues01
The oil issue is getting out of control and I personally don't believe that oil independence is the key. It's not just a matter of who we're dependent on; it's a matter of how bad our dependence has become.
The U.S. uses about 20 million barrels of oil each day. If ANWR will only provide us with about 16 billion barrels of oil, then the drilling will only sustain us for about 2 years. Two years? And we're going to severely damage a wildlife preserve for that?
We can research and develop more environmentally friendly ways of transportation, etc. The auto industry is already on its way with the production of hybrids, but people still need to make the switch. Think about it, if we could reduce our oil use in half, then the drilling in ANWR wouldn't have to occur because we could rely on other sources for a longer period of time.
There are many options to reduce our dependence on oil. For more information on alternative energy sources, visit the following websites:
http://www.cc.utah.edu/~ptt25660/tran.html
http://www.hubbertpeak.com/youngquist/altenergy.htm
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Have you done your homework on this issue? Clearly not. ANWR oil could relplace the oil imports from IRAQ. When Prudhoe Bay was first discovered in the late 60's, the reserves were estimated at 9 billion barrels of oil. Since the early 70's, Prudhoe Bay has produced over 15 billion barrels of oil, 30+ years later! Your two year assumption is based on whether ANWR is the SINGLE source of oil for the entire country. This is flawed, especially considering that the Trans-Alaska Pipeline's maximum capacity is two million barrels a day. Do us all a favor and do your homework before posting erroneous messages that mislead level headed Americans looking for a solution, not propaganda.
Check out: www.anwr.org
I do recognize that ANWR would not be the only source of oil and I didn't mean to imply by my post that in two years oil in the US will be tapped out.
My post was somewhat rushed and what I really wanted to get across was that if we're so concerned about our dependence on foreign oil, why don't we start looking at alternatives to oil in general.
Yes, I don't deny that my calculations were most likely flawed but in the end it's not the issue.