Gulf Oil

With the non-stop coverage of the oil spill in the gulf, it is time to consider something that gets little coverage these days: other sources of oil in locations less harsh than the deep sea bed. According to all estimates there are well over ten billion barrels of oil in the Alaskan reserve called ANWAR. This is located on the North Slope in an area that is frozen most of the year. It is not far from Prudhoe Bay, the main field of the North Slope area. Unfortunately, it is a political football. Democrats are generally against drilling there; so are some Republicans. The problem is that Obama has now stopped all drilling on the continental shelf and has done nothing to replace those supplies. That means that in a few months, we will see a declining suply of oil and a rising price. that will be a severe blow to the economy at a time when it cannot deal well with such a problem. Simply put, other than finding another source for oil, the only short term choice left for the US is higher prices and a return to economic decline. All but the most irrational environmentalists will understand the imperative to find such other sources. Obama could show real leadership by opening up ANWAR today with stringent environmental controls to offset the off shore losses.