LICATA: The current administration passed some executive orders that made drilling and energy extraction the top priority for management of federal lands. How do you override that legislation at a time when people are clamoring for gas and looking for new sources of energy?
SENATOR OBAMA: Look, you're absolutely right. Since 1999, the amount of drilling on public lands has gone up 260 percent, and yet prices have skyrocketed. And it indicates a basic truth, which is we're not going to drill our way out of these problems. This is something that I've consistently said. This is an area where I've got to disagree with both the Bush administration and with John McCain. There are certain areas where drilling may be appropriate. North Dakota, it looks like, may have new oil fields that have not been explored. And for us to tap into areas...where there's not a big conservation impact, no problem. ANWR, on the other hand, is a great example. This is our last great wilderness refuge. And if we started tomorrow, we would not see a drop of oil out of ANWR for a decade. And even at peak production, experts estimate that it would have an impact of maybe 4 cents on a gallon of gas. And that's 15, 20 years from now, when, who knows what gas prices are going to be? Now, it's just not a smart strategy. [It's] much better for us to think in terms of energy efficiency and, you know, exploit the resources that we have when they are accessible and when the trade-offs are such where we're not destroying land that we want to pass on to the&nbs next generation.

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