we can debate endlessly whether we 'need' the Alaskan oil, or the Colorado shale oil... if it is there, and someone sees a way to make a buck on it, there will be enormous pressure to harvest it. And yes, there WILL be damage to the ecosystem if they try, both cosmetic and environmental.

There is no way to dig up and process shale except by digging holes and making piles of crushed rock..BIG piles...There is no way to do drilling in wilderness areas except with roads, pipelines, housing, noise and pollution thru leaks and contaminants introduced in the process. The argument will always be, "we'll be careful, but our country needs this oil"...Prudhoe Bay didn't 'need' quite so much.

The ecosystem is just too complex to predict exactly how much digging and altering and reduction of bio-diversity is 'too' much, but we will most likely find it, because $$$$s dictate that we don't stop until it hurts. When we DO find that answer, it will be painfully obvious, and not very pleasant.

Al Gore at least understood some of these issues, whatever you think of his character, demeanor and general policies, and I suspect he would have given us some hope. G.W. Bush has no clue, and will support anything the developers want.

Like it or not, quality of life relating to overpopulation and environmental degradation is going to slowly become one of the most serious issues for the next few generations, but like a frog in a s*l*o*w*l*y heated pot of water, most people won't notice till it is too late.