To drill or not to drill

The question all over the news and the political world is what to do about gas prices. Conservatives argue that we must drill in Alaska and off the coast and Liberals argue that drilling isn't environmentally friendly and would take years and years before they would affect gas prices. Liberals instead call for developing alternative fuels and weaning off oil all together. Now the big problem with this debate is that everyone is looking for a silver bullet to solve the gas problem, but sorry to say there isn't one. There is nothing the government or the private sector can due that is going to bring down gas prices tomorrow, that is just the reality of the situation. Liberals are correct that drilling won't have an effect for a long time, but they have been saying that for a long time. If President Clinton wouldn't have vetoed opening up ANWAR in 1995 we would be by some estimates drilling there now. Just because something is going to take a long time doesn't mean we should just dismiss it. Drilling has to be apart of our long term strategy for oil independence, along with alternative fuels. I believe America can become independent but it is the work of a generation (hopefully mine) not one administration or a single bill. Politicians on both sides of the political spectrum sadly will continue to offer false hope of fixing this problem to win votes instead of actually working for a long term solution. The answer to this problem, like so many others, isn't easy but it is simple, and we must achieve it.