And yes, it WAS Clinton's fault. Because when there were enough numbers to pass it, he vetoed it.

Will notes that notes that, “One million barrels is what might today be flowing from ANWR if in 1995 President Bill Clinton had not vetoed legislation to permit drilling there.”

Wow, if only there had been about 5-7 years of republicans controlling the presidency and congress, with a war in the middle east making energy policy a big deal, they could have changed that. Yet nothing happened. Nothing at all.

Somehow it's still all Clinton's fault.

How, exactly, is marking up oil so that government make AT LEAST twice as much money off of it than the people who actually produce it "causing the costs of driving to be artificially low?"

You must be a facist. You WILL be silenced.

(Snort)

How, exactly, is marking up oil so that government make AT LEAST twice as much money off of it than the people who actually produce it "causing the costs of driving to be artificially low?"

Further, I'll remember that the next time you want to blame Bush or whoever you're mad at next for fostering a horrible economy and costing people jobs. Energy prices affect the price of EVERYTHING and this kind of short-sighted taxation is the most regressive type possible.

It has become very obvious how much power the environmental lobby has on energy issues. For what ever reasons our elected officials fear the greens more than they care about our economic health and energy security. It's time to launch an all out assault on the bankrupt ideas of those who oppose drilling. Until the environmentalists learn to compromise why continue to work appeasing them?

Our elected officials need to know others vote besides members of the Sierra Club and Nature Conservancy. With support they could then make the right decisions to lead us not to energy independence but simply energy security. There is a difference.

The correct way to go is to increase CAFE standards and open up an area for development. Fund new technologies and allow more coal burning. Push ethanol and build nuclear power plants. For every bone thrown to the greens throw one the other way. The list of solutions goes on and on.

It's not so much we need government to make this all happen as it is we need government to get out of the way. The last 35 years has proven to us our government is the problem when it comes to energy policy. George Will is not joining the "Blame America crowd" but is pointing out it is the American government that deserves the blame.

And the fact that North Dakota/Montana may be sitting on a huge amount of untapped crude, it makes sense to start building refineries in the great white north.

I believe the reason for the location in this case was more for Canadian oil sands than US shale.

Look; You want to find something that works better?
Fine.
Find it. If youre right, and it really does work better, I may buy into it. But don't try to sell me that the answer to or problems runs through the land of self-imposed shortages.

I think it will by necessity have to run through the land of self-imposed shortages, the question is just when, and how much is it going to hurt when it happens.

No matter how hard we try, there simply is not enough oil in the U.S. to achieve "energy independence", and allowing more drilling will only postpone the inevitable: the amount of crude oil in the world is finite.

So cutting us off from what we have, and what works now, makes sense?

Please.
Look; You want to find something that works better?
Fine.
Find it. If youre right, and it really does work better, I may buy into it. But don't try to sell me that the answer to or problems runs through the land of self-imposed shortages.

What's the actual status of that? The only article's I've managed to find say Hyperion has optioned the land, not even purchased yet, and that most aspects of the project they're calling "Gorilla" are still a secret.

That got a big kick in the buns day before yesterday, wen the local approvaed a re-zoning to allow them in. Hyperion has announced it's intentions to move in, and the real-estate proces are already going up in the area... there's going to be high paying jobs there.

But this will serve as an example of success, I tink, and resisting other developments will be harder... even for the big guys... and rightly so.