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“Hope you have a warm coat,” President Richter announces to us one July morning. “We’re going to check out a great oil opportunity in Alaska. I have a good buddy, from my broker days, who told me there’s great, untapped potential up there. The hell with the Mideast, my America can find their own resources.”
Dick Matterson, the EPA head, has joined us. He asks, “Mr. President, you are aware, correct, that the North Slope contains a large protected wildlife territory?”
“You’re worried about a few reindeer when there’s a potential to make America the top producer of gas and oil?”
“Caribou,” d**k corrects. “Plus…”
“Yeah, and Santa Claus will put you on the bad list. Did I not tell you my dad made his fortune in the gas and oil business and he sure didn’t worry about displacing a few, w
