Mr. President, Arctic drilling is too risky By Shannyn Moore

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Your secretary of the interior, Ken Salazar, recently told reporters asking about Shell's drilling permits and Alaska's Arctic, "I believe there's not going to be an oil spill."

Sir, he just wrote the headline for the first oil spill under Arctic ice.

"I believe" is not good policy. I believe that unicorn fur is the most absorbent clean-up product.

The Coast Guard, on the other hand, has held to its reality-based position that it doesn't have the assets necessary to cover a spill in the Arctic. The Coasties will have to pull resources from drug enforcement and fishing fleet security to try to boost safety in our most northern ocean. The Kodiak Coast Guard base is closer to Seattle than it is to the Chukchi and Beaufort seas -- 700 miles closer. Last winter we had to rely on a Russian icebreaker to deliver fuel to ice-bound Nome.

Trusting and believing is great in church, but when it comes to oil exploration and development, we have to do better.
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Read more here: http://www.adn.com/2012/07/07/2534935/mr-president-arctic-drilling-is.html#storylink=

Salazar saying that he believes there won't be an oil spill is one of the stupidest things ever said. He should at least have said 'hope.'

Artic drilling in those seas is one of the riskiest ventures ever. It makes drilling in the Gulf look like a cakewalk. And as Moore pointed out, just getting to the area where a spill might occur is arduous. It is a harsh envirnment to survive in much less trying to run a drilling operation.

Have they even tried a basic drilling operation to see what they face? It will require equipment that can withstand extreme temperatures, moving ice, and a whole host of other issues. I doubt that they have developed the machinery that can even begin to handle it. They proved in the Gulf that they were clueless.

It's not a matter of if but when.