Bob Blair parroted Sarah Palin (“Blame environmentalists for the gusher in the gulf,” June 3) in placing partial responsibility for the Gulf of Mexico oil spill on liberals and environmentalists because, “Had they allowed the oil companies to drill onshore in the lower 48 states and offshore in shallow waters off California and Alaska, the oil companies would not have been forced to drill in deep water.” Is he kidding?

Nearly half of Alaska’s North Slope is being drilled and parcels are currently being leased in its offshore waters, not to mention the abundant onshore oil fields in such places as Kern County, Texas, ad infinitum. Moreover, if drilling had actually been permitted in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, does Blair believe the oil companies would have deemed their pumping opportunities and profits sufficient and therefore judged deep-water drilling as superfluous?

 According to this logic, the fact that deep-water drilling is being  pursued in the gulf, means oil companies are now less interested in 

expanding their drilling on land and in the shallow waters of Alaska and  California. This does not appear to be the case.