Originally posted by Nash
Don't kid yourself Rip. Oil harvested in Alaska will likely be pumped down to your country through pipes that run through mine. Do you know what this means? It means that you'll now be at the mercy of any lumberjack with a chainsaw and a bad attitude! Ha ha ha we'll own you! Hows that for dependancy! 
That lil' bit of oil in the AWNR will only reduce our depenadancy to imports somewhere in the range of 7%. When looking at the projected output in an optomistic light that number could go up to as high as 8.5%.
Those are rather hefty increases in domestic production but it won't cause much of an impact on our dependancy on oil imports.
Some will see it as having a significant impact in the US becoming more self sufficiant, others will see it as pandering to big oil.
I see both.
What I don't see is a plan to replace that reserve or reduce our dependance for when it bleeds out in 20 or so years...seems to me it would be wise to keep it in reserve for when we actualy need it instead of extracting it when the political atmosphere is condusive to it.
