Bush's Misleading Claims About the Arctic Refuge Denied by Federal Officials

President Bush last week repeated his claim that if only Congress had approved his 2002 plan to drill for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge it "would likely mean lower gas prices" today. However, oil industry experts and Bush's own Energy Department officials say that Bush is greatly exaggerating the theoretical impact that opening the refuge would've had on current gas prices. They explained that it takes over a decade to find and develop a new oil field. Furthermore, the oil available in ANWR -- even under the most optimistic projections -- could supply less than 2% of U.S. demand, an amount that would have a negligible impact on prices at the pump.