Cost of U.S. Intervention in the Mideast
Young Americans are being sent off to die for gas guzzlers. Essentially television is whooping it up for flag and glory while Texas oilmen and Arab sheiks pipe the tune. Magazines and newspapers, however, are giving a more responsible and sober assessment of the costs of war in the Middle East. Persian Gulf military operations are now costing American taxpayers $1 million an hour and could go as high as $1 billion a day if war erupts.
Can you imagine what miracles could be performed if these millions (or billions) were spent on energy efficiency instead of an oil war? No American hostages, no gas gouging at the pump, no clogged freeways, no smog-shrouded cities, cleaner air and fewer deaths from cancer. It would also mean preservation of America’s coastal treasures from offshore oil drilling.
Instead, as Americans sink deeper into debt and smog because of oil blackmail, they see Texas oilman George Bush doing nothing to promote energy efficiency as he himself roars along the coast of Maine in a powerboat that reportedly burns up to 25 gallons of gasoline an hour. Moreover, he resists efforts by Congress to pass an automobile fuel-efficiency bill.
We Americans should fire a shout loud enough to be heard around the world--”Off oil!”
D.M. HEDLEY
Midway City
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