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Americans are being squeezed by high energy prices. And the oil
companies are taking advantage to push their long term drilling agenda.
For decades the oil companies have demanded access to the oil off our
coasts and buried beneath our public, protected wildlands. Now --in the
waning days of the Bush administration, they are making a last-chance
land grab. But the demands for drilling should not drown out the fact
that the beneficiary of increased off-shore and domestic drilling will
be the oil companies, not us.
The oil companies are raking in billions in profits. Last quarter,
ExxonMobil made more money in one three-month period than any other
corporation in US history -- while we were paying $4 a gallon for gas.
Increased drilling won't solve the problem -- but it will increase oil
industry profits. Doing more of the same won't solve our problem --
embracing clean energy options and efficiency will.
Please help us counter Big Oil's lies and help us push for the changes
we must make and that will earn our children's thanks .
Here are the facts:
More oil drilling will not lower gas prices or create energy independence. It will only make the world's richest oil companies richer.
The U.S. sits on less than 3 percent of the world's oil reserves. Even if we drill every corner of America, the oil will amount to a drop in the bucket globally and won't have an impact on prices on the world market.

Source: http://www.eia.doe.gov/pub/oil_gas/natural_gas/ data_publications/crude_oil_natural_gas_reserves/ current/pdf/ch3.pdf#page=2
Oil companies are making more money than any other industry in the history of the world. They don't need more giveaways from American taxpayers.
There isn't much left of America that isn't already open to oil drilling.
Oil companies aren't even drilling what's already available. Oil companies
are already sitting on 68 million acres of leases they aren't even
drilling. Instead of drilling there, they just want to get their hands
on the last places that are protected-our natural treasures, wildlife
refuges, and pristine coastlines.

See a larger version of this map, and Alaska and the Gulf of Mexico, too, here.
More drilling doesn't mean paying less. Even as the Bush administration has opened more of America to drilling, gas prices have continued to climb:

There is no guarantee that if we drill our coasts, the oil won't just be shipped abroad. Vice President Dick Cheney had to retract his claim that other countries like China are already drilling off our coasts because it's not true. BUT, oil from new leases could be sold to other countries-there's no guarantee the oil would stay in the U.S.
 Offshore drilling is a dirty business. If we open our coasts to Big Oil, we can look forward to ruined beaches, oil-slicked wildlife, and toxic air and water pollution.
There are solutions to our energy crisis, but drilling isn't one of them. We have faster, smarter, cheaper energy solutions that will end our dependence on foreign oil and keep America's natural treasures intact. By investing in efficiency and clean energy like wind and solar, we can wean ourselves from oil, create jobs, and breathe new life into our economy.

Myth vs. Fact in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge: Don't Believe the Lies!
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