Thanks go to Alaska State Reps Woodie Salmon, Sharon Cissna, Les Gara and Beth Kerttula for showing some independence and guts in coming out against House Joint Resolution 4 last week. This resolution is the annual down-on-the-knees begging Congress to open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil drilling.

I’m not surprised but saddened other intelligent reps didn’t join them. Kind of like refusing the ethanol pledge that Presidential candidates are supposed to take in Iowa. We Alaskans aren’t as independent as we might like to think we are.

If we put as much energy (pun intended) into trying to get better mileage on our vehicles, we’d save far more oil than ANWR would produce. How about a resolution requesting Congress to close the loophole on SUVs and the CAFE standards? Better mileage “would reduce our nation’s future need for imported oil, help balance the nation’s trade deficit, and significantly increase the nation’s security” as well as save our constituents money at the pump, while indirectly reducing our insurance rates.

Sound familiar? It can sound as mom and apple pie (Alaska style) as HJR 4. As was said more than once since the boom of the Prudhoe Bay-Valdez oil pipeline, “Oh, God, please grant us another pipeline. We promise not to piss it away this time”. Sure thing.