" Want to know a secret?

In 2001 and 2002, Senate Republicans had the majority of votes to authorize drilling in Alaska's ANWR. Senate Democrats fillibustered, with the help of Sen. Ben Nelson. As a result, the GOP was two or three votes short of the 60 votes needed to break the Democrats' filibuster.

Maybe we should be asking Sen. Nelson how he feels about sending dollars to unfriendly nations for their oil. Had Nelson and two other Democrats voted the right way six years ago, ANWR production would be online today -- adding another 1 million barrels a day to U.S. petro production! "

" The way I've heard it, ANWR would provide only a small fraction of the oil the US guzzles, and then only after 10-20 years of development. And at what cost to the environment and the future inhabitants of this country? For once, I think Senator Nelson had the right idea on that vote. "

" Woohoo! 1 million barrels per day! Too bad we use 25 million barrels per day...

We do not have enough oil in our country to make any difference. Alaska, the coasts, the plains, whatever. It will NEVER fuel us. Plus it pollutes like, a lot...

We DO have enough sun and wind to do whatever we want - forever.

But alas, 'big chocolate oil spills' and 'asthma emphysema clean coal' continues to pay all the greedy politicians for the continuation of the filthy, destructive status quo...

Oh yeah, and nuclear - didn't we construct an illegal war based on lies that Saddam had yellowcake uranium from Nigeria? How's that for hypocrisy... no no no you cant have nukes... but we haahve nukes for power... discount discount three eyed fishes!!!

It's time to go all in on solar, wind and geothermal. No dirty drilling necessary and Nebraska winds big. Go Big Red.

PS - Corn ethanol? STOOOOPID... inefficient, probably dirtier than oil... research algae fuels... "

" Whenever you have a gang of anything, run don't walk to escape. Let's see, we're going to limit drilling to outside of 50 miles from our shores. We're going to give the states veto power over drilling off of their coasts? Wonderful!! How do you spell failure?? Why is it we give states power over drilling and no power to do anything about illegal immigrants? This gang of 10 is like a peacock. All puffed up so everyone can see them, but little good for anything else. The peacock doesn't even compete with a turkey. At least the turkey graces our table at Thanksgiving. "

" Dreaming that squeezing a little more oil production out of US sources is a dead end. Prices still go up and in we waste a lot of time snf monry better used building alternative supplies, building more efficient cars, building mass transit, and changing the ways we use energy. Unlike the Republican approach which is borrow the money rather than pay for our needs, we need to actually buy a comprehensive approach. "

" Why is it that liberals (like the environmentalists) never produce anything? They criticize the oil that lets them drive their Suburu's and BMWs with their Ombama bumber stickers. They bash the electricity plants that allow them to look at their liberal blogs all day. They bash farmers and ranchers who allow them to feed their faces. America is the No. 3 oil producer in the world -- and could be No. 1 if not for the radical enviros. Let's ask Ben Nelson exactly what we're going to use to plant, cultivate and harvest the crops grown in Nebraska? What will we use to convert corn (or switchgrass) into ethanol? What is going to power our autos? Wind and solar?? Keep dreaming, Obamanites. "

" Oink oink oink gimmee gimmee gimmee more oil n juice ... I just can't get enough of that greasy smelly stuff. It sounds to me like the right wingers are the whiners here. The opportunities for job creation, not only for alternatives, but also for conservation are enormous. We have the technology and know how, what we lack is the will, largely because the decisionmakers remain in the pockets of big energy. "

" Even McCain said drilling will provide mostly "psychological" benefits. T. Boone Pickens, Republican and Oilman knows the 'drilling strategy' is a hoax. Pushing a policy they know to be ineffective just to make us "feel better", Republicans are once again trying to pull the wool over our eyes. I'm embarrassed that Nelson (and Obama) are getting on this road to nowhere. C'mon Dems, you can do better than this. "

" Appropriate name, I guess, for a group that's up to no good. I thought we had a crackdown on gang activity? Crooks. Lock 'em up, vote 'em out. "

" What we need is for the government and oil companies to level with us. Before we start poking holes in the ocean floor or other protected areas, we need to be sure we are drilling on the available leased land. Supposedly there are 68 million acres of leased land not being drilled on....we need details...anwar and the ocean floor is an option, but shouldn't be used as a knee-jerk political issue. We need the truth. I don't have a problem holding off on these options as we are keeping it like a savings acct and can always access if we need to. However, we need to know why oil companies aren't drilling now on what they have access to. I get the sneaky suspicion they don't want to drill right now to decrease the price of their product. I think if we told them they could drill anywhere they would still be pumping but not new drilling. "

" I love stories like this. They bring out all 20 members of Nebraskans for Peace and the State Democrat Party. Hard-core liberals, both. The U.S. is going to drill. We're going to be using oil 100 years from now. Civilization will go on.

Deal with it. "

" the u.s. probably will drill, truth defector, and as much as you and i may disagree on most issues, the drilling will not benefit either you or me. i really wish you were right on this one and i would be happy to be wrong, but even the leaders of your party know this is a sham. "

" Democrats in 2008: "We can't drill our way out of this oil shortage!"

As ludicrous as if FDR had said during the Great Depression: "We can't grow our way out of this food shortage."

Sure we can drill our way out of this crisis. Don't believe the left-wingers talking points. They aren't backed by the facts. The U.S. is the only nation in the world that won't allow drilling off its shores. We're spoiled, folks. "

" Drilling won't make a whit of difference, it is not the same as a food shortage. Based on your example it might be more like FDR saying, "I'm planting a backyard garden this year and will contribute the food to the market". There's not enough there to make any difference for at least 10 years and then only a marginal difference. Economists, market analysts, President Bush, John McCain have all said it. Sorry but those are the facts. The drilling proposal by the Republicans is merely a feel good proposal, their own leaders have said it. "

" I would venture to guess there aren't 10 people in the world that have a grasp on how much oil is left in the world. And those 10 certainly aren't going to "share" that information with the public. I don't have a clue how much oil there is. I can find information to satisfy several different "points of view". Unfortunately that's where we are in the "debate" not enough facts and too many points of view. One thing I do know is renewable energy to the extent it exists is the only answer to most environmental concerns and the only path to free us from our need to finance those that would destroy us. Bring on the solar and the wind power and let the "naysayers" watch what can happen. "

" Is Mr. Nelson going to make sure his tires are aired up for the trip. From what I can tell from the news that is his and Mr. Obama's energy plan. "