U.S. Oil-Drilling Policies Strike a Few Nerves

Re “GOP Renews Drive to Drill in Arctic Wildlife Refuge,” March 10: It is incredibly shortsighted of the Bush administration to advocate drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. It will take six to 10 years to extract any oil (if there is oil there), when we all know that oil is a finite resource that has been proved to destroy our environment as well as keep us beholden to interests in the Middle East.

We should be focusing on spending that money to fund research at American universities to find a solution to our energy demands. I bet that in the same time, we could develop technologies that would make us energy-independent, technologies that we could sell to other nations, creating millions of jobs and huge profits, helping the economy, relieving our huge deficit and reversing environmental damage.

Tiffany Strause

San Diego

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Our dependence on foreign oil is a serious threat that we will be up against for many years to come. The question is: Why doesn’t our government do something about it? We know there are enormous oil deposits in the United States, including along the West Coast and in the Alaskan wilderness. We have the resources and the capability to produce and refine the oil, and solve our serious problem. Yet there is virtually no drilling, and no new refineries have been built in 24 years. Why?

Some members of Congress have deliberately prevented the industry from doing what is required to end our dependence on Arab oil barons. Those senators and House members are in the pocket of, and under the thumb of, radical environmentalist organizations whose agenda is not at all in the best interests of the U.S. and our economy.

As voters, we have to get rid of those lawmakers who appease the environmentalists to the severe detriment of all Americans. Whatever negative impact occurs to the environment, it would be a small and necessary trade-off to save us all from impending disaster.

Jim Blumel Sr.

Santa Clarita