It will be deeply ironic and tragic if the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is opened to drilling as threatened. Not even the oil companies want it. According to a recent article in the New York Times, the Bush administration has far more enthusiasm for exploration than the oil companies they curry. Because the size of the Arctic reserves is small and the cost of drilling is high, there is little economic interest in the region. This is like Social Security reform over again, where the administration puts ideology over practicality in offering us solutions to problems it misreads.

The real problem is dependence on foreign oil. This puts Americans in jeopardy, feeds the growing global warming crisis and entrenches our economy in yesterday. The European countries that are pursuing conservation and alternative energy sources have more robust manufacturing economies than we do. Our oil industry is downsizing; their alternative energy industries are expanding. Their auto industry is taking over ours, which is locked in producing SUV dinosaurs for a shrinking market. We need an approach to energy that is sensible, modern and focused on the interests of all of us, not just the privileged few.

Fortunately, opening the refuge is not a done deal, and our legislators need to be encouraged and praised for the stands they have taken in opposing this boondoggle.

Steve Bien, Jay