Interior Secretary Zinke takes first step toward oil development in Alaska's ANWR

Kathy Griffin is crude, and her brand of crude tends to get the attention. But there are other types of crude more important than her. One in particular comes in the form of 12 billion barrels underneath the ground in northeast Alaska. We've known about it for decades, but we've never been able to go and get it because of long-ago congressional action declaring the oil untouchable. This is the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, where conventional wisdom says we can't go get the oil because the nearby herds of caribou will suffer if we do. That's complete rot, of course. With modern drilling technology the caribou can wander right up to the drilling site and they'll be perfectly fine. And we're only talking about a postage stamp of the 23-million acre reserve that would be needed to get the oil. There is no reason on earth not to do this, but the Beltway is a bizarre place. We were close in the 'aughts to having the votes, but a few House Republicans were too intimidated by the media and environmentalists. So despite the Bush Administration pushing hard for it, it didn't happen.