Should We Drill For Oil In Alaska?

At first, I was strongly opposed to this. I was thinking, "Are we REALLY going to destroy all that gorgeous land for some oil?" But, I have changed my mind completely, and perhaps you all will too. First, gas prices; they're insane. I still remember the days when ONE DOLLAR was expensive for gas. Now, that's insanely cheap. There's quite a bit of conflict over in the Middle East, as well; what if they stop shipping oil to us? Are we really going to wait in line for hours, or go WITHOUT oil? Are we Americans? Yeah. Are we patient? Heck no. That would be asking the impossible.

We HAVE oil. We have always had oil. Sure, there was a major accident in the Gulf of Mexico recently, but did you notice how that has completely disappeared from the news? Well, that's because despite all of our freaking out ("OMG! There is OIL in the Gulf!"), the Gulf is now back to normal. Seriously, they've tried to SEARCH for the oil, and it's not there. What's beneath the floor of the ocean? Oil. Where did the oil that spilled go? Back to the floor of the ocean. Home sweet home.

We could live off of our own supply of oil for hundreds of years yet, and in that time, we could find an alternative power source. Besides, Alaska is frickin' huge, and the area they'd actually have to drill is pathetically small in comparsion. It's not like they're gonna go crazy and drill up the whole place. Alaska will live, and so will we. Regardless, those "environmentalists" are a lot like politicians; they feed us lies, and we sit and take their word for it. Most of what they're saying is blown completely out of proportions. What happened to making decisions for ourselves? What happened to relying on ourselves? We shouldn't have to rely on other countries for something we already have; we rely on them enough as it is.

~Tobi~
~Also, I'm beginning to think it's going to take WW3 to get us out of this economic slump. Then again, all will become one with Mother Russia after WW3, so maybe it won't matter...~

You are rght, Tobi. Why not drill for the oil we have? Scientists are already coming up with things like solar and wind energy. Give them a few hundred years and it will be prefected. So why not use the oil we have why we still can? And who knows, this might be the beginning of WW3, lets just hope not. The economy is bad and we need to bring it back up by bringing compaines back to the US so people can have jobs. Bringing something as big as oil back to us will definatly help get the ball rolling. Just one more question-Mother Russia? I am extremly confused by this.
-Rachelle41

Oil is a major problem for America and you do have a point. We have ways of reaching it without even asking other countries. But why not we try a more eco-friendly way? Electronic cars are coming out (I've seen the commercial) and they only need gas for long trips. Solar panals, windmeals (whatever you call those big white thingy's that spin and get air from the wind) and water. I don't know exactly what we can do with water, but it causes turbins to turn and so we can get electric energy from stuff. We don't NEED oil. Scientists are looking into much better ways to fuel the planet. Because yes, we have oil. But why not use something more earth friendly instead and save that small piece of Alaska?

Unfortunately, Luv-chan, eco-friendly doesn't mean economy-friendly. ;D And we're more than 14 trillion dollars in debt at the moment, and rising every second. Literally. Our debt as a nation is constantly increasing. That's not really what the oil is for, though; the oil is for the time when all those warring Middle Eastern countries (Seriously, they're pretty much all fighting or totally corrupted) cut our supply completely. They have us on our leash, and we can't start up our oil supply over night. It'll take at least four years for us to be self-reliant on oil, so if we put it off much longer, we're gonna have a crisis on our hands.
And yeah, electric cars need gas too. So, "Oh, but they can be eco-friendly for short trips!" doesn't really work when you have to make a long trip and your country has no oil. Once again, having OUR OWN oil will give scientists hundreds of years to develop an alternative energy source. 'Sides, the "alternative sources" we have at the moment (e.g. solar power, wind power, hydroelectric power) are far from perfect. D'ya think car companies are going to let them mass produce electric cars? At the moment, ya' better be somebody important or somebody with cash. Hydroelectricity and wind mills aren't really developed enough to power the whole country, either, and we're still going to need oil for the cars! The majority of Americans rely on cars to get us where we need to go, and so far, that's gonna take oil. Therefore: we need oil. Thus forth: if they cut back on us, things are gonna get bad. Conclusion: Drill our own dang oil and quit relying on unstable sources.

~Tobi~
~I swear, if those government fools don't cut all of their spending, I'll protest at the White House myself...~
~Mother Russia = name for Russia (ze country?). D; Unfortunately, Russia is no longer the superpower it was, so the world won't be dominated by Mother Russia any time soon...~

Yes, eco-friendly stuff isn't perfect and yes, it'll take years to get it more common, but it CAN supply a nation. The electronic cars they have out NOW need gas. But in the future, they might not. I don't want them to drill up Alaska. I know our economy is bad, but if scientists can work on drilling oil in Alaska, then they can work on finding better ways than just oil too.

I have a bad feeling this post will turn out too short for my liking...But, Luv...XD Scientists don't drill for oil. And the scientists that may or may not be involved in the refining process likely aren't licensed in energy conservation or whatev.
Also, I must add that if any politicians use the whole "eco-friendly" thing in their arguements, it's totally just stuff they're spewing to get elected. It's how they roll; everything's a campaign. Well, there are some good ones out there, but that's off topic...Nonetheless, Luv-chan, you're still thinking of it as a scientific problem. It's not. Our ecomomy isn't just bad, either. It's flat-out screwed. I mean, anything is possible; we could have some kind of miracle that could get us fixed. If not, we're looking at the Great Depression Part 2 (rumor has it they're calling this the "Great Recession").
It's just, we HAVE oil. We're not going to completely obliterate Alaska. There will be plenty of land for eco-people to fawn over, and in the mean time, we won't be freaking out about gas prices or a total stop on gas. Oh, the numbers, they taunt me...! Really, though, gas is a huge expense, and it's right under our noses. If anybody should be making money off of it, it's us! Sure, it'd be nice if this were a perfect world and we could be eco-friendly all the time, but this is the 21st century. We're reliant on oil-other countries' oil-and, well, other countries in general. We're still a world power, but just barely. There's a lot of stuff going down, stuff we can't help but be involved in 'cause of our oil issues. Sure, there are other problems, but oil is just something we can't live without yet. We have to think for the future, of course, but that doesn't mean we can just let the present go.

~Tobi~
~Sorry if these feels like a huge rant about our ecomony. It's just...Well, click on this link and you'll see the dreaded numbers. Geez! Up 2 billion in the past hour... US National Debt Clock ~

I guess you're kinda right. Today we need gas. We can't worry about tomorrow until we face today's problems. And today-we need gas. I don't LIKE the idea of them drilling in any way, shape or form. But if we have no choice, they can drill. I'd still like us to become a little more eco-friendly though. I don't WANT them to drill. But, truth is, they kinda have to.