Milky - fine. Don’t give the oil leases to the oil giants. Give them to me. Believe me, I’ll start drilling and get rich and help the country.
If this is a real argument, then Congress can simply say “we aren’t going to allow any small group of companies to monopolize these resources. They are too important of an asset. So, if you are holding any undeveloped oil leases, you can’t bid.”
Believe me, I could easily find investment to drill the CRAP out of ANWR.
Considering that Congress has actually BEEN saying this for a decade or more, it does actually seem like somewhat of a real argument.
I have nothing against oil exploration. If the Oil and Gas companies would actually DO a little more “exploring,” and a little less “politicking,” this would not be an issue.
I see this as being about CONTROL of resources, not exploration, at all.