Ozzoatmealking

The thing that really bothers me about this whole debate is that people think that drilling for oil in Alaska solve oil dependency. Thats actually not true. For all of you who have taken basic economics and know about supply and demand, this should make some sense. The reason we import oil is because the world price is cheaper than what the market price for oil would be if only american corporations supplied oil to american buyers. When prices are lower the demand is higher. Domestic corporations are not as willing or possibly not able to produce oil at such low prices so a fewer number of companies go into oil drilling. So then what happens when you open ANWR for drilling? American companies now start drilling and producing oil so the overall supply of oil increases. Well one basic principle of economics is that when supply increases price falls. THink about it, there are now more people competing for your dollar, so these extravegent prices drop to reasonable levels. But then what happens, when price falls consumers are now more willing to buy oil because its cheaper. American coporations dont make enough to supply all that oil and we still import oil from the Middle East and South America. It would have a marginal impact on dependancy if any. Dont think Congress doesnt know this, this whole dependency debate is just a ploy to open up ANWR. Open ANWR prices go down in the short term but now we consume oil at a higher rate and were still screwed when ANWR runs out and when we have devoted so much time and energy to oil drilling instead of alternative fuel research.