Are oil companies unnecessarily sitting on their permits to drill here at home? While some in Congress have argued so, Sterling Burnett of the National Center for Policy Analysis says it’s not quite that clear cut: Comments Mr. Burnett: “Leasing an area for drilling is far from a guarantee that drilling will actually be allowed. For example, environmentalist have long argued that oil exploration in the Arctic Natural Wildlife Refuge was not needed because the National Petroleum Reserve – an area specifically set aside for oil and gas production — was nearby. Yet when the government leased areas in the NPR, environmentalists sued halting development. This is common practice and explains much of the problem.”