Letters to the Editor

'Below $50 a barrel'

John Denham [letter Aug. 16] complains oil companies aren't drilling in the 68 million acres of federal leased land. The answer is simple: They have tested much of it and there isn't much to bring out.

The federal government and the oil companies know the biggest and best opportunities are to find oil off the Outer Continental Shelf and in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. The Democratic Congress thinks solar panels will get your car to work on Monday, so they offer propaganda that "it will take 10 years" to harvest this oil.

Many experts tell us some of the new oil will be available in as little as 18 months. I am comfortable with that claim, and I'll bet that if the U.S. starts a real program of drilling, oil will be below $50 a barrel in less than 90 days. Meanwhile, Congress members can continue to risk re-election by denying what the vast majority of us want: to start drilling.

Make no mistake, we want the other programs too, but solar panels will not take you to work Monday morning. And don't forget: Much of our natural gas comes from or through enemy territory, too.

Jim Kochheiser