This is not a drill...

Posted at 4:36 PM on July 21, 2008 by Tom Scheck (2 Comments)

GOP Rep. Michele Bachmann has started her media push to allow drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska. Bachmann was in Alaska over the weekend (with several other House GOP members) to look at ANWR and whether the U.S. should allow oil drilling there.

Bachmann just wrote an op-ed for the National Review saying ANWR is "a treasure trove of energy that will yield a lot with only minimal intrusion."

Bachmann will also be on Fox News tomorrow morning and will hold a conference call with reporters to talk about her trip.

Bachmann and the House GOP may have hit a gusher (sorry, had to do it) with the calls for increased drilling. Polling shows that Americans support drilling in ANWR and in U.S. coastal waters over increased conservation.

The question is whether the plan will result in lower gas prices (which is what Americans really want)? CNN takes a look at whether drilling in ANWR is a solution or a distraction.

More importantly, Will it happen? It's unlikely since both John McCain and Barack Obama don't support drilling in ANWR. GOP Sen. Norm Coleman (who doesn't support drilling in ANWR) also told reporters last month that it was unlikely:

"Whether I reconsider my position or not, I just don't see ANWR being opened up. The debate has gone on too long. The divisions are too wide. The reality is 'Where can we find common ground?"

Coleman has called for increased drilling off the coastal waters. He said that that they "won't have to do the ANWR debate" if they allow drilling on the outer continential shelf.

So here's a question for blog readers: Will drilling in ANWR be an issue in the upcoming election? If so, will it be a game changer for the GOP?

---

Comments (2)

It won't be a "gusher" if the media does its job and challenges her on everything from her b.s. about pipelines and oil drilling being good for caribou (it's not) to her recent claims about bringing the price of gas down to $2/gallon (she can't) to her own record on renewable energy (it's worse than Bush's).

Posted by Karl | July 21, 2008 7:37 PM

---

Funny thing is the GOP trip sponsored by The White House did not even set foot in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge because their plane was fogged out!

Amazing how someone becomes such an expert after a flew hours flying around at over 100 miles an hour on a weekend jaunt. Their trip was designed not to view much wildlife in the refuge, nor to actually experience the incredible wilderness that belongs to all Americans by taking a leisurely walk on its pristine tundra. As an Alaskan, I have seen how these trips are orchestrated by the drilling promonents.

Birds were there raising their young, flowers blooming, and under the midnight sun the coastal plain is spectacularly beautiful. Weeks before, 10s of thousands of caribou with their calves had gathered on the coastal plain area where drilling would occur. And earlier in spring, denning polar bear mothers would have left with their cubs from this protected wildlife habitat, travelling out to the Arctic Ocean pack ice.

Opening the Arctic Refuge to harmful oil drilling will not lower gasoline prices at all today. According to a May 2008 report by the Energy Information Administration, opening the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge today would result in Americans saving just a few pennies per gallon, ten years from now. Most Americans will get nothing in return but the big oil companies will reap huge profits.

We must prevent harmful oil and gas drilling in the Refuge that is the heritage of all Americans because once this wilderness is destroyed it is gone forever.

Posted by Pamela A. Miller | July 25, 2008 5:01 PM

---

Post a comment

The following HTML tags are allowed in your comments:
+ Bold: <b>Text</b>
+ Italic: <i>Text</i>
+ Link: <a href="http://url" target="_blank">Link</a>
Fields marked with * are required.

Name*:

Email Address*:

URL:

Remember personal info?

Comments*:

Comment Preview appears above this form upon pressing the "preview" button. Edit your comment and press "preview" again, until you are satisfied with your comment.

Your comment may not appear on the blog until several minutes after it was submitted.

• E-mail this page
• Print this page
• Save to Delicious
• Submit to Digg
• Share this

Services

• Hourly Newscast
• HD Radio
• iPhone App / Mobile
• E-mail newsletters
• RSS feeds
• Podcasts
• Submit your photos
• Videos
• Weather
• Most e-mailed stories

Become a Sponsor