Don't be crude: obsession with oil overshadows environment and energy issues. (Green Matters).

The truth is finally out. U.S. Interior Secretary Gale Norton admitted in a Reuters news story (Sept. 18) that "boosting domestic oil production is the centerpiece of the administration's energy plan."

She said she would prefer that President George Bush veto the energy bill if it kept the Artic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) closed to oil exploration and drilling.

Most likely neither she nor the President need worry. With Congress edging toward adjournment as of this writing, chances of passing the whole energy package or even an "Energy Lite" bill diminish daily. Matters not concluded in this second session of the 107th Congress will have to be reintroduced when the 108th Congress convenes in January 2003.

We don't happen to agree with Secretary Norton that oil should be the core of a national energy policy. While it's true that our transportation system will rely on petroleum for some time to come, transportation shouldn't be our only concern. It's too bad that the oil issue has become a poison pill that could sink other measures, such as those pertaining to conservation, alternate fuels, energy efficiency, restructuring and research, to name a few.

Unfortunately, we, as a nation, can't seem to talk about oil without being disingenuous or abandoning common sense.

It's All True

For example, more than one backer of drilling in the ANWR has attempted to capitalize on a U.S. Geological Survey that states that the ANWR contains between 5.7 billion and 16 billion barrels of recoverable crude oil. Sixteen billion barrels, they gush, is equivalent to 30 years of imports from Saudi Arabia, our largest foreign supplier. The facts presented are all true, but those that aren't are what makes the statement misleading.