I just don't see the urgency. For all the talk, we are just now starting to see demand mildly affected as gas prices hit $4. And we are paying much less than other countries. Yes I know we use more than they do, but I still think they suggest we can pay more without crumbling. So I think if current oil prices aren't crushing us and if the world really is running out, I would rather pay more for oil now, avoid blunting incentives for development of alternatives, and then extract that Alaskan oil when prices are more like $300 a barrel. If you have an asset going up in value much faster than inflation, why sell it now if you can avoid it?
we dont need to drill...we have way too much supply...the problem is our demand is ridiculous...we need to conserve.If we reduce our consumption by 5% ,guess what?Oil drops 30$ in a month.Sounds crazy?It just happened. Reduced demand is by far the fastest,cheapest way to drop energy prices.