Democrats whine about America’s dependence on foreign oil, but refuse to even consider drilling on our own soil.

Yesterday President Bush chided Congress for not allowing drilling inside the Alaskan National Wildlife Refuge (ANWAR). Alaskans are all for it, but greenies fret that a few reindeer might be disturbed.

ANWAR would produce 1 million barrels of crude per day, about 1/25th of what we consume. So it’s not a complete solution, but it’s a start. Unctuous Senator Chuck Schumer scoffed:

‘The price goes through the roof - higher, higher, higher, higher, higher, higher. And what does the president do? He takes out the old saw of ANWAR,’ Senator Charles Schumer, a Democrat from New York, said.

‘ANWAR wouldn’t produce a drop of oil in 10 years. And it’s estimated that if they drilled in ANWAR, in 20 years, it would reduce the price 1 penny, and that’s the president’s answer to the oil crisis.’

Four points:

1. We could have started drilling in ANWAR ten years ago, but we didn’t. It’s like saying it’s pointless to sow seeds today because you can’t harvest the crop for four months. Idiot.
2. We don’t have a crisis. We have price increases. Gas lines and empty tanks are a crisis.
3. The Democrats have long pushed for a $.50/ gallon gas tax to compel consumers to conserve fuel. The market is already doing that. Of course, Dems figured to spend that extra tax moolah investing in technologies that only the government is smart enough to identify.
4. The Democrat’s solution to the “crisis” is to stop adding oil to the Strategic Oil reserve, something that won’t even shave a penny off the price of gas.