Make oil independence our goal
To the editor:
We Americans need to understand that the United States consumes 24 percent of the world’s oil; that the United States produces 8 percent of the world’s oil; and that 80 percent of the world’s oil is controlled by governments.
Do the math. Two-thirds of our oil is imported. And most of that from countries that only seem to like us for our dollars. America can’t win against these odds, and we’ll go broke trying. I say we get out of the game. Now.
The United States must implement a crash, Manhattan Project-style energy policy with the goal of substantially achieving oil independence. Our policy of relying upon Saudia Arabia, Nigeria, Mexico and Venezuela has been wildly successful, but the times, they are a changing. We’ve enjoyed abundant, inexpensive oil, and those who engineered this feat deserve many thanks. But no longer can we depend on oil-exporting countries to do what’s best for America.
The comprehensive energy policy I envision would reduce many of the hurdles facing domestic oil and gasoline producers and accelerate the building of nuclear power plants. It would place a heavy emphasis on developing alternative energy with the recognition that the global reliance on oil places an unsustainable burden on the environment and undermines world peace and prosperity. Our leadership in oil independence would enhance our leadership in the world.
We have only a short time before, in my opinion, we lose control of the American economy. National security has already suffered. Now is the time for Republicans and Democrats to work together for our common good and enact a sensible, comprehensive energy policy.
According to oil man T. Boone Pickens, “In 10 years, we will have exported close to $10 trillion out of the country if we continue on the same basis we’re going now. It will be the greatest transfer of wealth in the history of mankind.”
No thinking American — Republican or Democrat, conservative or liberal, environmentalist or big-business backer — wants Mr. Pickens’ predictions to come true. Congress and President Bush, get to work!
Robert Moen
RENO
THE WRITER IS FOUNDER AND EDITOR OF WWW.DRILLITDEEP.COM.
Precious planet
To the editor:
Upon reading your editorial on the group of University of California, Berkeley environmentalists who are living in a tree on campus (“Tree houses,” July 2), I found it narrow-minded and shortsighted.
You criticized “the greens’ dogmatic devotion to natural resources as sentient beings, protecting trees as though they are people.” We “greens” don’t equate trees to human beings, but we do feel a cosmic connection to all living organisms. We especially feel a special connection to our mountains, trees and even our family pets. Once nature is lost, it’s lost forever and we can never get it back.
One only has to drive around Las Vegas to see the effects of urban sprawl fueled by the developers and billion-dollar corporations.
I only hope that the members of the editorial board and I don’t one day tell bedtime stories to our children and grandchildren about why and what we did to our precious planet. The great Henry David Thoreau, who inspired Mohandas K. Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr., once said, “Every creature is better alive than dead, men and moose and pine trees, and he who understands it aright will rather preserve its life than destroy it.”
Shane McVittie
LAS VEGAS
Wrong fix
To the editor:
Our esteemed senator from Searchlight has determined that oil, coal and the things that have allowed this country to maintain its leadership over the ages are making the entire planet sick (The Final Word, Friday).
I’m looking forward to Sen. Harry Reid’s response to a World Bank report published in The Guardian newspaper (London) on Friday which stated that the biofuel programs, touted by him as a wonderful solution to the oil crisis, had caused world food prices to increase by 75 percent. The daily said the report was finished in April but was not published to avoid embarrassing the U.S. government, which has claimed plant-derived fuels have pushed up prices by only 3 percent.
So, 3 percent versus 75 percent. Anyone who has bought groceries over the past three months knows which is correct. The government will probably say the difference is within normal estimating tolerances.
William Boyd
MESQUITE
Sinking economy
To the editor:
After seeing the latest rant from Nevada Sen. Harry Reid about our “sick” environment (obviously he hasn’t traveled abroad much), I am appealing to the fine folks of Nevada to vote this clown out of office.
Where will your economy go with the cost of gasoline rising? The same place as our economy in Florida.
Delena May
GAINESVILLE, FLA.
