We drill cleaner, better than anyone

To the editor:

I was encouraged to hear so many Democratic senators denounce the idea of instituting a carbon cap-and-trade system in this time of economic difficulty brought on by the sudden rise in petroleum prices. The idea of adding more than a dollar a gallon to the price of gasoline in the name off stopping global warming was not palatable to those who thrive when the government has more revenue.

This realization that action must be taken to ease oil prices is an opportune time to begin pressuring Congress to open a reasonable portion of federal lands to drilling.

For most, the idea that we should extract oil from our own soil rather than send our wealth to the Arabs or dictators is just common sense. But for our Democratic Congress and the Republican presidential nominee, we need to have a "feel-good" reason.

I contend that drilling for our own oil, with the environmental management requirements this country imposes, is many times more environmentally responsible than buying oil from countries that care little about polluting the land and water during their exploration and production.

By convincing our "leaders" that the net effect of extracting our own oil and not buying from less-responsible suppliers is positive on a global scale, perhaps we can begin to institute a truly comprehensive energy policy that will allow our country to continue to prosper.

Don Bittle

HENDERSON

Let's make a deal

To the editor:

Because it appears inevitable that Yucca Mountain will be used for nuclear waste storage, and because the state is in need of money, why not accept the waste and charge the producers of it through the nose ("DOE files to build Yucca," Wednesday Review-Journal)? That would be better than having it shoved down our throats for nothing.

David Hayes

LAS VEGAS

Bogus process

To the editor:

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's belief that the Democratic Party should change its process of selecting presidential nominees ("Reid: Process for picking candidates must change," Wednesday Review-Journal) seems indisputable. Voters should decide the outcome of elections in this country, not the U.S. Supreme Court, as in 2000, or the Democratic National Committee and superdelegates, as in this year's Democratic nomination process.

The DNC wouldn't acknowledge the two outcast states that were big early Hillary Clinton wins, awarded Michigan delegates to a candidate who chose not to be on the ballot, arbitrarily reassigned four of Sen. Clinton's pledged delegates and halved the delegation from Florida even though it was the Republican Congress who moved the primary date up. Then, the superdelegates decided this close contest, ignoring their states' voters.

I am teaching my children it is their civic responsibility to make an informed vote, and that their vote will count for something. If Sen. Clinton, with the biggest primary popular vote total in the history of this country and the winner of the larger group of potential Electoral College votes, isn't the Democratic nominee, Sen. Reid is correct in implying something is very wrong with the system.

Michele Tombari

LAS VEGAS

Sacrificing liberties

To the editor:

My thought that Nevada may be a fairly libertarian state was completely thrown out the window when I read that the school district accepted the "gift" of federal grant money to drug test its students ("Athletes at eight high schools face drug tests," Thursday Review-Journal). I'm sure that will be the justification for other things in the future such as neighborhood surveillance cameras -- "Oh, it's not our money so it's OK. We'd be crazy to turn down this free federal money."

Wake up, people. It's not free, and the fact that your tax money has been laundered first by the federal government before being given back to you for the purpose of taking away your civil liberties only makes it more perverse.

Andy Spurlock

LAS VEGAS

Lousy comic strip

To the editor:

My husband and I are disgusted with the new comic strip "The Knight Life."

We can't begin to estimate the backlash that would happen if the characters' comments were made toward any race other than white.

The strip that was in Tuesday's edition was unbelievably racist against whites. Why was "Jump Start" replaced by this trash?

Paula Jaramillo Stewart

LAS VEGAS

Selling out

To the editor:

It speaks volumes about what motivates people to participate in a democracy when they are willing to completely abandon the principles their candidate espouses simply because their candidate is no longer in the race.

What an insult to Hillary Clinton and all the issues she has fought so hard for, that many of her followers would simply shrug their shoulders and vote for someone who opposes so many of her ideals. It really shows that no matter how much we Americans would like to believe that our political participation is motivated by the important issues of the day (economy, foreign relations, national security, equal rights, etc.), we seem to endlessly choose the path of least resistance and are motivated by less important factors: race, gender, seniority.

I'm afraid to say that indeed, we have not come a long way, baby.

Teresa Krolak-Owens

LAS VEGAS