"If the only reason for pumping from ANWR is to lower the price to consumers, then forget about it."

The quantity of oil is too small to affect world oil prices. The only way it would affect world oil prices, is that the US demand for imported oil does affect oil prices more than other countries, because the US is richer than other countries and is capable of keeping a higher demand despite higher prices. So if you lower US imports of oil it would have a larger affect on world oil prices than simply the quantity might indicate. The other aspect is it does send a signal regarding future US imports- if US allows ANWAR maybe they will also allow other domestic production.
But the possibility of lowering world oil prices, isn't a significant factor in my view- maybe it would amount to around $5 per barrel. Probably slightly more important is it would slightly strengthen the US dollar, again just ANWAR would amount to only a small amount in this regard, pennies per dollar, but 2 cents per dollar would probably have bigger impact than $5 per barrel.

Now, I don't think high oil prices, or the lower dollar are significant problems at the moment, but don't think it would good for ever increasing oil prices and ever lowering US dollar. In other words I'm not on the side of causing oil to be $150 a barrel within the next few years or the US dollar to continue it's free fall. I also expect without ANWAR that oil price will remain at around current prices or even decline a bit over the near term and for the US dollar to at some point strengthen significantly- but I'm not certain [nobody is]. And I see little threat from significantly stronger dollar and as much as $10-20 barrel drop in oil prices over the next few years.

"I'm willing to pay more to fill my car with gas...

In fact, I think I and everyone else should pay more...Then eventually, the marketplace will develop affordable alternatives (like battery powered vehicles)."

If I had chose between doubling the amount nuclear power plants operating in this nation over next two decades, or ANWR. I would pick increase the number of nuclear plants [and provide the needed electricity for these electric cars].

But I don't think opening up ANWAR will stop or slow the development of electric cars or other "alternative" source of energy. Opening up ANWAR will have an effect over timeframe of decades into the future. Similar to space exploration, I don't there is anything to gain by waiting *to do this in the future*. I think if anything we behind the ball, we should already have opened the space frontier and we should already be mining oil from ANWAR. And we are general doing worse because we haven't.

"The idea that you are going to get the government out of the way in ANWR (or anywhere else) is ridiculous. The governement has been heavily involved in the oil business since just about day one: when they 1st figured out that oil is a strategic asset. The fact that our SUVs run on oil is an after thought to the more important issue of maintaining our reserves for strategic purposes."

But the idea of using ANWAR as a strategic asset is pretty strange idea- I can't think of a less ideal location.
But oil is certainly important in terms of national security, and has affected federal policy for nearly a hundred years.

"Using oil from other parts of the world only enhances the value (strategic and economic) of our domestic reserves (including those un-tapped reserves in ANWR)."

No doubt this has been a rationale and may have made more sense 30 years ago, than today. And if you want to talk about strategic policy, one has to consider potential oil reserves in the entire polar region. But the idea that the US could be the last one standing in regards to having available oil reserves, is a bit comic book when one considers the global nature of the modern world.
How could the US be a world leader when it hoards oil while other countries develops other technology which don't require oil. And doesn't your view suggest that it would be in US interests, that rather than richer more prosperous world the US is betting on rather doomed bleak future?