OPINION:
Oil is a significant underpinning of our economy. High fuel prices cause financial strain on families, but a drastic reduction or interruption of oil supply could have devastating effects.
A disruption would mean millions of employee commuters would have to curtail or stop commuting, thousands of truckers would stop hauling goods needed by small and large businesses alike, trains carrying passengers and goods would be disrupted or stopped altogether and airplanes would probably stop flying.
All these catastrophic events jeopardize jobs and family well-being. Also, tax revenue would be drastically reduced, causing more pain for many, including seniors and the needy. Yet with such potentially devastating effects, we continue to depend heavily on foreign oil suppliers, including suppliers from areas where turmoil exists, increasing the chances that supply could be drastically cut back.
Why is it OK to pay foreign countries with money we don’t have for oil when we have 200 years of oil supply at current use levels? President Obama refuses to allow adequate levels of drilling in the Gulf of Mexico, approve the Keystone XL pipeline or approve drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) and other lands. Isn’t it better to have our own oil supply instead of relying on uncertain sources, since a significant disruption in oil supply could devastate our economy? The Strategic Petroleum Reserve’s oil would only last about 38 days, which is not enough to overcome devastation if oil supplies are cut or disrupted drastically.
We shouldn’t allow a devastating economic scenario to develop because of the desire to use alternative energies such as wind and solar power. Neither of these is suitable for powering cars, trains, trucks or airplanes. Let’s not force on the public something that doesn’t work. Instead, let the marketplace do its job. It has a very good track record in that regard with advances in automobiles, computers, airplanes, phones, TVs, gasoline, nuclear power, clean coal, electricity and more. The public usually responds when a product is useful and reasonably priced.
It is way past time that America control its own destiny by drilling to get more oil while creating millions of jobs that help everyone. Energy independence should be a high priority. Let the free market work to develop alternative sources of energy at reasonable costs. The president and Congress should act to get that done - the sooner, the better.
FRANK MEDICO
Mount Vernon
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