The Senate's vote to open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil drilling was a shortsighted act of political self-indulgence.

Opening the refuge would perpetuate our dangerous dependence on oil. An oil-dominated energy economy is a strategic liability. With 97 percent of global oil reserves held by other nations, there is no prospect whatsoever that the Arctic refuge would make us energy-independent.

Absent a smarter energy policy focused on efficiency and developing new fuels, domestic oil demand will outrun domestic oil supply, requiring larger amounts of imported petroleum to close the gap. Arctic drilling proponents, however, never want to talk about the demand side of the equation.

An energy policy based on increasing oil supplies is stupidly obsolete.As long as we're dependent on oil, we'll be dependent on foreign oil. As a result, our economy will be whipsawed by price spikes, and we'll be vulnerable to the whims of those who control the lion's share of world oil reserves.

Our exposure to such risks would be the sorry legacy of drilling the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.