[BOBTHENAILER]

For those of you who thought the Mars photos looked barren, I suggest a bit of travel along the Texas-New Mexico border.

Ain't that the truth.

[Dog Gone]

It has a strange kind of beauty, in a very desolate way. I can remember driving north from Van Horn with pronghorn antelope running alongside the car and a lone thunderstorm in the distance.

But for anyone to argue that drilling will ruin the land is absurd. This is hardly a small area, and drilling activity will have about as much impact as a ranchers stock tank and windmill. Plus, oil companies are pretty good at environmental remediation. We can reseed any disturbed areas with native grasses or whatever makes the BLM or the ranchers happy. It's a routine matter.