It seems to me that as a society we have lost either our ability or willingness to have honest debate. What should be logical arguments have become religious ones - good vs. evil instead of compromise and accommodation. This is especially evident in the energy policy legislative debate. The argument on opening new areas for drilling ranges from "this will solve our foreign oil dependence" to "we can't support that because oil's carbon emissions are too high". I would bet that most people agree with the basic premises of both of these arguments. We know that it would be good to cut both carbon emissions and foreign import dependency. Domestic drilling won't solve all of our oil dependency problems any more than we can afford economically to ignore the worldwide oil demand growth. Then what is the answer? Am I missing something when I think that this country needs to incorporate elements of both plus a comprehensive plan to develop new technologies that will make alternative energy sources economically viable?

Let's begin developing more of this country's resources in a responsible manner. Let's also continue working to reduce emissions. Let's use tax credits more effectively. Instead of funding already highly profitable enterprises let's use those funds on primary research. Companies have a hard time justifying research because of the business risk of these investments. And please, stop with the complaints that drilling should not be done because it will take 7 - 10 years to get new oil into the economy. If you don't understand that we are talking about something in the terms of decades you simply don't get it.