Advertisement

Letter: Quit talking and start drilling

May 23, 2008

Dear Editor,

The dog and pony show in the U.S. Senate that consisted mainly of a bunch of sanctimonious politicians wasting the time of the oil company executives and the tax payers' money was a disgrace. Many of those senators are career politicians feeding at the public trough and have their cars and gasoline furnished by the tax payers. Yet, they have the gall to complain about oil company profits and threaten a windfall profits tax.

Raising taxes on the oil companies will result in higher gasoline prices, not lower prices. The problem with high gas prices is a supply and demand problem. Congress has little or no control over demand but they do have the vital control over supply and it is their refusal to allow drilling in Alaska and the Gulf that has diminished supply as it relates to demand. And none of the three running for the office of president are in favor of drilling for more oil either.

Advertisement

Obama's statement that we need to give up our SUVs and air conditioning in our homes and what he considers "frivolous trips" is not the American way of dealing with a problem. America's greatness stems not from giving in to a problem and admitting helplessness, but by summoning the courage and ingenuity to meet the problem head on and solve it.

McCain and Clinton's response to the problem amounts to nothing more than waiting on alternative fuels development, which does nothing to alleviate the crisis we are faced with now.

What it boils down to is the hard cold fact that not one of the three presidential contenders nor the Congress is interested in increasing the supply of oil, unless they can convince OPEC to start pumping more of it. President Bush, to his credit, has tried this and was rebuffed by the Saudis.

And why not? After all, with the U.S. Congress refusing to allow more drilling for domestic crude oil, where's the incentive for the Saudis to diminish the flow of dollars to their coffers? Congress needs to be put on notice - quit talking and start drilling, or else start updating their resumes.

J.B. WaskomStanford

Central Kentucky News Articles
|
|
|