Those who want to drill and who would try to dismiss the site's protected status as a wildlife refuge are quick to complain about how unattractive the place is, and how many flies and mosquitoes. As if human values of "beauty" or "comfort" were supposed to be factored into why a wilderness area is set aside for wildlife in the first place.

We'd be a lot better off if the megadollars spent on lobbying to get this site opened up, and the dollars spent in exploratory drilling, were spent on developing alternate energy sources and electric cars. Build up rapid transit systems (several of which were originally purchased to be trashed by the auto and/or oil industries, by the way--see LA) and teach people to conserve the energy they have. The IDEA that "we can always go drill more oil" only delays the serious effort to reform the Western profligate use of oil as a energy supply.

SRS