Drilling ANWAR oil not the answer

For years I've listened to how drilling for oil in ANWAR would relieve our nation's energy problems. Today I looked the numbers up for myself. The truth is clear. If we had been replacing only 20 percent of our foreign oil imports with ANWAR production since we first heard "drill ANWAR for energy freedom" ANWAR would now be dry.

Here are the numbers from the USDOE and USGS. The best guess at ANWAR reserves is 7.7 billion barrels. In April 2008 we imported 9.92 million barrels per day. If only 20 percent of that were pulled from ANWAR, ANWAR would be dry in around 10 years. If somehow we could stop oil imports entirely and replace them with ANWAR oil, ANWAR would be dry in about 2 years.

While none of these numbers are exact, the conclusion which can be drawn is indisputable by any honest person who can do the math. Drilling ANWAR for energy independence is the position of liars or their fools.

I don't know, and don't believe anyone knows, how much oil can be found on America's coasts. But I doubt any expert believes the reserves along America's shores could provide America its energy freedom for 10, much less 100 years. My suggestion is this. Congress should compromise. It should introduce severe new fuel economy standards for all vehicles and tie that legislation to authorization to explore our coastal waters. That won't solve our energy dependency problem, but it would give us a credible start.

If we are going to leave any semblance of a modern transportation system to our grandchildren and their kids we've got to understand and take heed of what the numbers tell us. Maybe we should fund a few more math teachers along the way as well.

Arthur P. Malm

Elgin