Eight million acres of that are wilderness never to be disturbed. Another 9.5 million acres are under wildlife refuge designation allowing no development. The remaining 1.5 million acres could hold as much as 16 billion barrels of oil that could replace Saudi oil coming to the U.S. for close to 30 years. The consequences are evident. Oil drilling has gone from 532 rigs operating in 1990 to 133 rigs in 2000.
Domestic policy is no better.
On the West Coast, the concern is pump prices. But look at the taxes imposed on each gallon of gas in the four states. California's tax burden is about 46.4 cents on the gallon. Oregon's is 45.4 cents, and Washington's is similar. The taxes include federal, state and local taxes in all three states.