[rifflechick007]

What are the pros and cons of drilling oil in Alaska?
Should we or shouldn't we?

[shygrneyzs]

No, we should not be drilling for oil in Alaska. I believe this because of the Artic Wildlife Refuge and to preserve the rest of Alaska as a natural resource.

[labman]

If we don't drill now, the oil will still be there when we need it even worse than now.

[Fr_Chuck]

Yes we need to drill, first because we need the oil, and the area that we would be drilling at is so small that there is the majority of the refuge.

And drilling does not destroy an area.

And honestly even if it does hurt some, we need the oil, end of story, to not use it, would just be giving in to the control of foreign oil

[J_9]

We also have to think about the wildlife that could be destroyed.

One of the largest remaining caribou herds is on the North Slope of Alaska (Prudhoe Bay).

[Starman]

Since oil is a nonrenewable resource, sooner or later oil reserves will be depleated so I see any new drilling as simply a postponement of the inevitable shift away from oil. I would prefer they concentrate more on the development of a renewable energy resource
Such as ethanol.

If Brazil can accomplish it then surely it can't be beyond the ability of the USA to do so as well.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/4715332.stm

http://www.cusd118.lake.k12.il.us/mi...laskan_oil.htm

[Sentra]

I say they start making cars that can take used cooking oil as a form of gas, slap on a few solar energy power sources to things we use everyday; use gas during the day while the solar core charges with sunlight, so it can be used at night. Bah, go Brazil! I think they should do a trial period with that and expand it slowly throughout the US. It's time we vote someone in who is not only for the people (And NOT themselves) but for the environment as well.

[Chince]

Here is the problem with oil; there will always be a demand for it. As it stands America is slipping in oil production in the world. The Middle East countries like Saudi Arabia produce more oil in 4 months then the U.S can in a year. Myself I am Canadian and I come from a town that thrives off oil. By Using a drilling rig you actually aren't doing any damage to the surrounding area, it's the roads that will have to be built to get to the rig is what will cause the most damage. At the same time those roads will help connect small communities that are found in Alaska, and this will produce well paying jobs for the few people that live in Alaska. Don't get me wrong I would love to see the day when we all own cars and trucks that run off hydrogen, but even when that day does come there will still be a demand for oil, but the demand of oil will be reduced greatly.

[mst777]

We shouldn't drill in Alaska because we could use it l8r when we run out in other places around the world and they will have to depend on us and our economy will boost up

[hank9909]

Um... do the words WILDLIFE PERSERVE mean anything to anyone?
As in the act of perserving wildlife. By drilling in a zone such as this it completely ruins
The purpose of a wildlife PERSERVE. It would be ruining the habitats of multiple animals.
Studies show that even if we did decide to drill in Alaska it wouldn't make any difference on
The oil chrisis. All it would to would be to slow down the process of finding alternative fuels.
So, really all we would be doing by drilling in Alaska would be placing a bandaid over a crack in a dam. That wouldn't make much sense either now would it?

-hank

[startover22]

Have any of you ever been to the North Slope? Or are you saying no because of what you have heard from media?
My whole family works on the Alaska Pipeline... I have been there and they have been there since the 1970's. As anything we are in the way of all wild life... EVERYWHERE. The roads, the new houses that are being built... our neighborhoods and cities are far more dirty than one square foot of the "North Slope"...
They put so much energy into not bothering and not making too much of an impact on the environment and wildlife I find it incredible what they have accomplished.
I understand that to build something so big, we of course are going to be a bother... I didn't see you all putting up a stink when you wanted to cut down that tree and put YOUR house in that birds homeland??
I say Drill and be very careful, as we have the smarts and love to do that. Drillers and environmentalists need to come together and figure out the best way to do that.:)

[N0help4u]

we shouldn't drill in alaska because we could use it l8r when we run out in other places around the world and they will have to depend on us and our economy will boost up

Yeah like NOW two years later.
As startingover says a lot of what the politically correct and environmentalists say is just a bunch of hype to get their own way. And look at how Al Gore is turning 'Global Warming' into a get rich type scam because the public is buying it hook, line and sinker.

Well my immediate concern for this week is the PC environmentalists are getting 4th of July canceled in various communities because *it surprises the birds*

[ConfusedInAK]

Have any of you actually been here?

Furthermore have any of you actually been to the north slope?

I don't believe future drilling of oil is going to hurt the "wildlife"...

I do however believe that they need to look for alternate fuel/energy!

Sooner or later (apparently sooner in the case of oil), it's going to run out.

So should they drill? Probably if they can't figure an alternative out.

Should they come up with new/renewable resources and spend less time trying to create a pill that will stop a cow from emitting methane? Yeah I say so...

The only real Pro which is ALSO a Con: It's a temporary fix to a larger problem

[tempa]

What is the real meaning of the term environment? It's relationship with the plants.

[emilyrathbun]

I hate it loser

[screwthecaribou]

It is spelled preserve not perserve dork, and by the way, for every one percent of oil america can produce compared to the middle east it would reduce our oil prices by 10 percent. Put that in your pipe and smoke it. There are at least 15 billion barrels in anwr and that is the lowest guess, if anyone offered me $1.50 for a gallon of gas I would go for it in a heartbeat. The Arctic National Wildlife PRESERVE has millions of acres and the most to extract the oil would be 2,000 acres.

On another note, the environmentalists who say drilling would damage the caribou don't tell you how it would hurt them, when you dig deeper, the only thing drilling does is when the pipelines get warm, the caribou have a longer breeding season and it actually increases the number of caribou, which means MORE HUNTING! Yah!

[apbonez]

Drilling will most definitely affect the wilderness. There are about 50 species living in Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, including the endangered polar bears and caribou. Drilling could even lead to some of these endangered species' extinction.

Also, the Gwich’in Indian tribe survives by hunting and gathering and they rely on the migratory Caribou. If oil drilling were to be allowed in the Refuge, it could cause the migrations to change, which in turn would be detrimental to the Gwich’in Indians.

Not to mention that this could be the gateway to allowing other areas of protected wilderness to be used for drilling. What's next? Yellowstone or Yosemite?

Chuck we do not need to oil. Our nation alone uses 20 million barrels of oil a day and we are sucking the earth dry. We need to practice weaning ourselves off oil. It's going to run out sooner than you think.

[CESACUTIE]

I think that we should drill in Alaska becuase it is a HUGE state and the animals and plants do not cover up the whole state.

[g_trivette]

I think we should drill and still save the wild life we should because more oil we get in our country more gas stations will lower gas prices and more money we spend and all the trees and animals can live all we drillin is in the water if an other explosion like the gulf than we can prvent it by learning the water and the drill and how we use it we can't servive like this any more no money because it is costing us a lot of money every week and we need that money for our familys and ourselves so that's why we should drill in Alaska all we need is enough oil to lower prices and more money we can save and use for school so I am with the hole drilling in Alaska