Pressure to drill for oil mounts

Re “Offshore drilling foes relent,” June 18

Here’s an idea. Let’s open offshore drilling in vague hopes of reducing dependency on foreign oil and lowering the price of gas by less than a dollar. Let’s increase the risk of another California oil spill catastrophe. Let’s dot our shoreline with drilling rigs.

Let’s invest nothing in alternative fuels or developing more efficient engines. Let’s not take advantage of the surge of public interest in conservation and demand for efficient public transportation. And let’s allow already booming oil companies to become rich(er).

Is there a serious leadership problem, or is there a serious lack of will?

Todd Rutherford

Riverside

How can Barack Obama (and other Democrats in Congress) justify their opposition to lifting the ban on offshore drilling when gas is over $4 a gallon?

I know they always whine that it’ll take time before the positive price effects are seen. Well, the sooner we start, the sooner we’ll see those effects.

Jeff Jackson

Cypress

Any permission to drill new offshore oil sites needs to be conditioned on development of new refining capacity, or we will just be handing out money with no guarantee it will solve our current supply-and-demand issues.

Wayne Leffler

Costa Mesa

Global markets will always determine the price of oil, domestic or foreign. Tolerating the risk of the destruction of ocean life and our beautiful California beaches from oil spills will not save us a dime at the gas pumps. American oil will always cost the same as Iranian oil or Saudi Arabian oil.

The only thing that would affect the price of domestic oil is if we nationalized the oil companies.

Joel Bruce

Santa Ana