Oil Drilling in ANWR Won't Significantly Lower Gas Prices

Bush greatly misstates the Energy Department's conclusion. The AP reported in 2004 [1]: "Opening an Alaska wildlife refuge to oil development would only slightly reduce America’s dependence on imports and would lower oil prices by less than 50 cents a barrel, according to an analysis released Tuesday by the Energy Department ... if Congress gave the go-ahead to pump oil from Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, the crude could begin flowing by 2013 and reach a peak of 876,000 barrels a day by 2025. But even at peak production ... the United States would still have to import two-thirds of its oil..."

During the Bush presidency, crude oil prices have risen from about $30 [2] a barrel to $117 [3]. Shaving off 50 cents per barrel, more than a decade from now, is meaningless as far as price at the pump.