Couldn't they have waited until after the election?

If the Bushies are going to make a lame-duck decision...

The federal government will open up nearly 46,000 square miles off Alaska's northwest coast to petroleum leases next month [...]

The lease sale in an area slightly smaller than the state of Pennsylvania was planned without information as basic as the polar bear and walrus populations, said Pamela A. Miller, Arctic coordinator with Northern Alaska Environmental Center. The lease sale is among the largest acreage offered in the Alaska region.

...they may as well have waited long enough for Republican presidential hopefuls to blame leebruhl 'Merica-haters for forcing rag-head brew down our SUV's throats.

I just hope all goes well out there in the cold!