[zipo]

>>Is it really realistic? Will not the ever-increasing scarcity of oil eventually lead to exploration?<<

At some point ANWR will get tapped. Not because it will materially lower US dependence on foreign energy, but because the energy lobby stands to make a bundle of loot by ramming it down the throats of a tame, lickspittle, and avaricious Congress.

That same energy lobby and their lackeys in high office are using ANWR as a red herring to divert attention from what really needs to be done - namely, implementing meaningful conservation measures (for example, mandating that fuel efficiency in autos be doubled in the next 5 years) and seriously developing alternative energy sources.

Of course, big energy will lose big profits if the US gets serious about our energy problems, and so our national interests will continue to be sacrificed to this influential special interest - at least until we get people in the White House and Congress who will confront this lobby head on rather than servicing it.