McGrath, the current Governor and his administration in Alaska and all three US members of Congress are in favor of opening the Refuge. And evidently a lot of other Alaskans are too- including at least one of the native tribes in Alaska. (Another tribe, the Gwichin, who live in the area, are vehemently against it. They have always had a subsistence-based lifestyle and rely heavily on the caribou and other wildlife in the area. They apparently feel the stakes are too high to experiment.)

Many Alaskans, on the other hand, feel as I do- that in the generations to come, if the time ever comes that that oil means the difference between our society surviving or going under, the projected oil will still be there. It hain't goin' nowhars.

I don't believe that Alaska has much control over the Refuge. I know that under the Clinton/Gore administration, the powers-that-be in Alaska weren't able to push their agenda. With the bush2 administration solidly in favor of opening it to drilling, those in Alaska are chortling with glee. It doesn't look good.

Ebbie