Thursday, August 28, 2008

Oil Drilling in Our Protected Lands

I wonder why the subject of opening up our protected wildlife refuges for oil drilling has so much public support. For me, it seems simple: Drilling for oil in these protected areas is a temporary fix, but the environmental effects have the potential to be devestating and long lasting. In order to open up these areas for oil drilling, we'd need to install roads and landfills and long miles of pipelines. We'd risk oil spills, and we'd make this land unsightly, and we'd impact the wildlife of these areas.

I'd rather us focus on developing alternative sources of energy than just bide our time and devestate the protected lands. Why, then, is this such a costly issue for Democrats? Why, during this time when our country seems to be more environmentally friendly, do the majority of people seem to be in favor of this drilling? I really don't understand why so many people support the Republicans on this issue and support drilling in our wildlife refuges.

Please, enlighten me. I'm so confused.

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