"the oil wells in africa and the middle east and other various 3rd world countries have almost no environmental controls and can do much more harm."

Really? Can you comment with references on the number of species that might be affected in say, the ANWR, vs. the already established oil fields in the Middle East and Africa? I don't mean to diminish the value of species in those two areas, but certainly there's a difference between drilling in new areas and drilling in established fields, with established infrastructures (roads, towns, etc.).

For the record, I consider myself pretty moderate, and the constant comments from some individuals referring to anyone questioning the need to drill in a friggin' park (not protesting, just questioning...you know, asking a question about what the risks are vs. the gains) a bleeding heart, burkenstock wearin' granola muchin' liberal are insulting, not to mention infantile.

For @#$%'@ sake, how do some of these people (I'm not referring to metalhead, by the way) even figure out how to log on to the internet?