U.S. Should Drill For More Oil

TO THE EDITOR:

Energy drives the U.S. economy, from agriculture to industry, to our homes and our vehicles. The rise of the Chinese and Indian economies, in particular, has increased worldwide demand with a stable, or decreased, level of supply. Given this, there is no mystery that the price of oil and its products have risen. Much research and development has been devoted to wind and solar power, but at best, these are forecast to be small suppliers of our energy needs. Nuclear power is still limited by emotional fears and a firm plan for waste disposal, while environmental concerns, not yet resolved, limit the energy that can be generated by burning coal. Biofuels are expensive and have unintended consequences including causing higher food prices.

The U.S. should immediately begin drilling in ANWR and the outer continental shelf to access oil reserves that can be brought to market relatively quickly. This can now be done with little to no negative environmental impact.

The benefits of more U.S.-based oil are apparent: improved national security by reducing reliance on others; reduced funding to our adversaries; and reduced price of energy all of us are paying by increasing supply. Energy policy is too important to be used for partisan political advantage.

In the article, “Bush to Congress: Lift offshore drilling ban” (Intell, June 19), Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid accused Bush and McCain of staging a “cynical campaign ploy.”

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called the proposal to drill “another page from an energy policy that was literally written by the oil industry.” This approach is not helpful, and it certainly doesn’t explain why they are against increasing our supply of oil. It shows a total lack of leadership in meeting the energy needs of this nation. Our representatives should be approving drilling in ANWR and the outer continental shelf.

Donald L. Felker, Lititz

(c) 2008 Intelligencer Journal. Provided by ProQuest LLC. All rights Reserved.