First, this argument could be applied to virtually any oil discovery. By such logic we shouldn't drill anywhere anytime.  You could apply the same argument to alternative energy. Wind and solar can't be part of any solution because they would simply be an insignificant drop in the bucket when compared to demand.

Second, market prices are set by the expectation of future supply and demand. Current markets are counting on the no-drill Democrat party to continue to do nothing. Leasing the 1002 and the OCS would change that futurue outlook. In the late 1990s excess production capacity of just 2 million barrels led to oil prices less than $20.

Third, there are many reasons acreage may be undeveloped. Often oil companies lease adjacent blocks that may contain one large contiguous oil field - they can produce from an adjacent field, sometimes companies shoot seismic and don't find anything, or costs to develop might be too high.  Once found the oil may not be in commercial quantities.  Oil companies PAY premiums to the government for the rights to drill. These rights are not forever and typically expire in 5 to 10 years, depending on the terms for that particular sale.  Lee Raymond, former CEO of ExxonMobil perhaps said it best.  Finding oil and gas is like looking for a needle in a haystack.  Leasing acreage is being given a haystack.  

Lastly, it is NOT ANWR. This is another lie that environmentalists tell.  They show you pictures of the Brooks range and caribou and tell people that is where the drilling will be.  Nope, the specific area is called the 1002 (Ten-oh-two) and it lies along the coastal plain.  It was specifically set aside for petroleum development as part of the deal to create the ANWR.  An environmental impact statement completed in 1986 said that the 1002 could be developed with limited environmental impact (with 1980s technology).  

Drilling operations in the 1002 would ONLY take place during the winter. Above the Arctic circle the winter is dark 24 hours per day. There are no roads to the 1002 so companies would create ice roads to move equipment to the site. In the spring these ice roads thaw, leaving no trace. A single drill pad can directionally drill 20-50 wells going out in all directions, substantially reducing the footprint over the technology used to develop the North Slope.  

More drilling is only the answer to how to achieve more environmental destruction.  The biggest reason it shouldn't be done is because it will destroy more of the Earth.

Before you want to consume the last drops of domestic oil, make sure first that you consume them effectively.
You might consider leaving some resources for your children to exploit, or for the case of emergency.

Your current gas price trouble are not emergency but stupidity. The situation was to be expected since the early 1970ies (Remember the U.S. oil peak and the oil crisis?)

It all reminds me of the Easter Islanders chopping their last tree before dieing off.

To make the above poster's reference to Easter Island even more poignant...

The Islanders didn't die off right away. When they were discovered by Cook, they had devolved into bands of cannibalistic tribes that made constant war on each other with the apparant goal of getting a meal and knocking over each other's stone heads.

If we are to learn anything from this story it is that Americans are doomed. We're the fattest people in the world, so I expect we'll be attacked first.

for a juicy cannibal meal. And you can make diesel out of the fat.

Now serious. Methinks if Americans keep avoiding reality, or (s)elect yet another incompetent/fossil administration, they are indeed doomed. The cliff close ahead. But there are still a few years left to fix things. The dollar is still fat enough. And there are still good brains around.

Booms and spill equipment ought to be in place at every platform, as well as webcam surveillance 24/7 monitered by the public on the internet.  Environmental groups could keep a close watch on each rig.

The big US and UK oil companies just got their foothold in Iraq back.  After a 31 year hiatus.  is that why bushco wants 58 permanent bases in Iraq?  Or is it just to give their business partner Bin Laden(s) an excuse to continue the jihad, so bushco can continue the very lucrative contracted out (to blackwater, halliburton, and friends) war on terror?  I think it's both.

Wealthy fundamentalists will continue funding the jihad as long as US troops are on their holy soil.

http://amazngdrx.blogharbor.com/blog

314159265,

First and foremost, EVERYTHING is about the environment.  Without it, there'd be no life.

Second, your attitude that this issue is about math and that it's OK to consume and exploit natural resources while causing immense ecological and environmental destruction is totally immoral and shows a complete lack of any wisdom or spirituality.

As to wisdom, it's foolish to fail to recognize that we're all part of the web of life and that destroying any part of it causes some harm to ourselves.  Moreover, no one knows which part destroyed will also destroy us, making this attitude even more foolish.

As to lack of spirituality, instead of all these false, idiotic, and harmful religions, people should work on feeling the connection between themselves, and the Earth and other species.  Once one realizes those connections, one realizes that we're all just part of the same thing, so that an injury to any part of it is an injury to ourselves.

I don't have an issue with webcams. It would be pretty boring watching nothing happen. All offshore rigs are required to have booms and oil spill response equiupment. Also companies share regional spill response centers that have even more equipment.

If drilling is so bad, environmentally, then surely there must be an example somewhere you can point to.