I agree with T. Boone Pickens. Drill all you want but it won't solve the problem.
The US consumes 15 million barrels a day yet produces only 5 million a day. The Saudis produce 9 million barrels a day. Can we outproduce the Saudis? Doubt it. Even if we added their production on top of our current production it leaves us 1 million barrels short. That's today. Think 20 years from now when the drilling is done, the pipelines are built, the refineries are upgraded and built. All that money spent, the US now produces 15 million barrels a day...YAY! Whoops, we're using 30 million a day now. Damn!
I also agree with Sly that "We need to get off the oil tit either way...".
Pickens is trying to sell the same idea. Natural gas for one. Clean and abundant in the US. Instead of spending money searching and drilling for oil invest in converting all big rigs to natural gas. Trucks use 1/4 of the fuel burned in the US daily. Think of the jobs created just from the conversion.
Then he suggests wind as a viable alternative for energy generation. He believes in wind so much the guy is investing $10 billion in it. When his farm is complete it will provide electricty to over 1 million homes and businesses. As long as the wind keeps blowin'. Again, more jobs.
There are tons of soultions out there. Pickens has some good ideas. The best part of which are, they're environmentally sound, they create jobs and they look at the long term solution.
Finally, I was stationed in Alaska for 3 years. Beautiful place and if you've never been I highly recommend you visit. As for drilling...go for it. The environment will be fine, I just feel it's a waste of time and money. There are better ways.
k...I'm done.
http://www.pickensplan.com/