House Vote Sacrifices ANWR to Gas SUVs

The Aug. 1 passage of President Bush’s energy bill by the House of Representatives should clear up any lingering doubt: Campaign finance reform is desperately needed. This bill gives away billions of dollars to the fossil fuel industry, allows the auto industry to continue producing gas-guzzling SUVs, gives only token amounts of funding to real conservation measures and alternative energy sources and promotes drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. The majority of Americans disagree with these actions, and yet their representatives voted in favor of them. Calling it the House of Special Interest Representatives would be more accurate.

Jeremy Scharfenberg

Los Angeles

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The House’s passage of an energy bill featuring increased Alaska drilling and an endorsement of SUV overconsumption once again reveals the GOP to be the ecological equivalent of Stone Age man. They are no doubt similar to those ancient wanderers who hunted the woolly mammoth (read oil supply) to extinction, while presumably ridiculing those who proposed using agriculture (read renewable resources) for their sustenance. Like those misguided hunters, these rightist congressmen (a few Democrats among them) stubbornly insist on depleting the planet’s resources with no thought for the future.

At least cavemen had ignorance as an excuse for destroying their own means of survival. But then again, it seems that many members of Congress share that dubious distinction.

Martin Veselich

Los Angeles

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Protecting a species or a special place isn’t just about a fish, a beetle, a bird, a rodent, a swamp or a wildlife refuge. It’s about the chain of life, and a chain is only as strong as its weakest link.

Barri Clark

Los Angeles

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John Balzar’s vivid description of Alaska’s ANWR (Commentary, Aug. 3) leaves one wondering how American labor could possibly support invading this treasured land for a lousy 25,000 jobs. The supporters of despoiling this virgin wilderness say they would only leave a “modest footprint” on the land. Modest footprint, indeed! Twenty-five thousand workers, or even a portion of that number, is a small city. Think of how many barracks and mess halls this requires. And the loading docks and warehouses, the paths and roads required for all those trucks the teamsters want to drive. The garages, the repair shops, not to mention all the drilling platforms and pipelines.

The Democrats who voted along with the Republicans on this issue, just to satisfy labor, should be ashamed of themselves.

John I. Ingle

San Diego