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Not to hijack this thread, but I have a question...

I realize that under the current political shadow, drilling our own oil is unlikely and an uphill battle without wheels or propulsion... and building/expanding new refineries are even more difficult to achieve. BUT...

Lets say that more states tell the feds and the environmental wack-jobs to go pound sand, and say we as a country decided to get and use our own oil, and to refine it as well...

How long would it take to actually build some new refineries from scratch if major resources were put into place to get it done. And lets assume that the bulk of the obstructive regulations were lifted (or ignored) to get it done - so basically there are no major obstacles - how long would it take to actually build one (or more)?

And second - assuming that the new refineries are built relatively close to the new wells - how quickly could oil flow, and gas be made if the obstacles were lifted?

I have heard 8-10 years if they opened ANWR today... but I assume that a large portion of the time would be permitting and other environmental impact studies, regulation, and other major hurdles. The Hyperion project in South Dakota, while having leapt over the first hurdle (a vote by the people), they still fact local, state, and federal regulations and permitting - and they have a tentative groundbreaking in 2010...