The following is a report per DOE projections:

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Here're the savings from Arctic drilling — 75 cents a barrel
By Erika Bolstad | McClatchy Newspapers

WASHINGTON — If Congress were to open up the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to drilling, crude oil prices would probably drop by an average of only 75 cents a barrel, according to Department of Energy projections issued Thursday.

The report, which was requested in December by Sen. Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, found that oil production in the refuge "is not projected to have a large impact on world oil prices."

But the report also finds that opening ANWR could have other benefits, particularly in Alaska, where tapping the resources in the Arctic refuge could extend the lifespan of the trans-Alaska pipeline. It estimates that if Congress agreed to open ANWR this year, Alaskan oil could hit the market in about 10 years.
SNIP

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/251/story/...

No need to raise gas taxes. Alot of people are already making adjustments. I've been riding my bicycle alot more for low burden errands. I was pointing out that other countries have taken a different approach with some success.

But ITA with what Mike said: US auto makers blew it by blowing off the idea that CAFE standards might need to be changed over the next decade or so. Tax incentives by the GOP Congress for buying gas hogs didn't help either, especially with the mindset that we all need to be in big guzzlers.

Wow is this a special message to me or did the REPLY TO A POST get a new friendly reminder? Vicad always improving ,gotta love that...Kudos
Karie2, that 's the vision part of the equation I posted yesterday.....Japan kept making smaller cars,met their high mileage goal ,and kept the price of gasoline high for their consumers...Now they are about to overtake America's big three auto makers and became number one in the auto industry.
Vision for America.....Americans are switching to mass transit in the larger cities ,so we could keep the prices high and the consumers will adapt,but we continue to let the oil companies dictate policy.

Who runs the company? Diane or Hubby? That's the difference. If you want to do something about Feinstein, then you better do something about Bush and Cheney also. We all know there is enough corruption in business markets and govt to go around. As I said, it doesn't make it right.

Of course, they have plenty high gas prices in Europe to discourage excess gas usage. Plus the high gas taxes go to build and maintain infrastructure (remember the Minneapolis bridge collapse).

It's too bad Reagan dumped Carter's plans to work towards energy independence. Reagan even had the solar panels that Carter had installed in the WH removed. Talk about lack of vision, and that was right after the arab embargo.

That's right, marksremarks-the-biased-republican. A couple of corporatists Democrats (is Feinstein's hubby a Democrat?) have made some money off it also. That doesn't make it right.

Sueing OPEC or oil traders isn't going to make a difference in the long run. Becoming independent of foreign oil by investing in alternative energy is the best way out of this mess. Conservation is another tool people in the US need to learn.

Well put Mike. And as for the war in Iraq, honey, what rock have you been living under? Congress never made a declaration of war, yet ol' George conjured one up just because he wanted to. And who, I might ask, has profited the most from the war in Iraq? Hmmmm. Oil companies and Haliburton. Gee, the Prez's money is in oil and the Veeps money is in Haliburton. Hmmm? Coincidence? I think not! AND ANOTHER THING, honey, GLOBAL WARMING IS NOT A MYTH!!!!! Perhaps if you crawled out of your upper middle class, designer-SUV-driving, rose-colored bubble for a minute, you might notice that the polar ice caps are melting like ice cubes in a cup of hot coffee and the worlds glaciers are nearly all gone!!! 40% of the world's population gets their drinking water from these glaciers. Wake up, get your head out of the sand, and realize that GWB is the cause of the war, and is a huge reason that the US is the worse contributor to global carbon emissions than any other nation in the world. Had he signed the Kyoto Protocal back in 2001, the US would be well on its way to reducing green-house gas emissions to the same rates they were back in 1990. But noooooo, Georgie had his own plan. And now it's worse than ever. I'm ashamed to be an American and a Texan. The Shrub has made both the US and Texas the laughing stock of the world. Shame on him and shame on you for believing his lies.

There is no need to try and protect the president for high gas prices. What can they do?

In the United States high gas prices are problem, because of greed, politics and lack of vision.

The president cannot do anything about oil speculators, China or India, but enhancing the turmoil in the Middle East and giving tax credits as incentives to oil company for drilling; I can drop that blame at the doorstep of 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.

No president in the last 30 years has led the fight to alternative fuels or higher CAFE standards.

My senators are in lockstep with the failed energy policy of the Bush administration. In fact, they are the head cheerleaders.

The answer is not more oil.