U.S. Must Develop Domestic Oil

* Re “The Better Friend,” editorial, Oct. 1: Your editorial misses the point regarding our national energy predicament. Thankfully, both candidates support the development of clean-burning natural gas reserves. But they’re clearly divided on the issue of domestic oil production, particularly in the Arctic National Wildlife Reserve.

Any national energy policy should include responsible exploration and development of our own resources. After all, America imports more than half of its oil from countries like Iraq, Nigeria and Indonesia, where there are no human rights considerations or environmental safeguards.

There is no quick fix to America’s energy crisis, aside from the systematic depletion of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. But the long-term strategy must hedge against total dependence on the sheiks of OPEC. That means a stepped-up domestic exploration and production program, including those resources in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

SCOTT McMURREN

Anchorage

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Dependency on foreign oil was not created by Democrats or Republicans. It was created by a thriving economy, increased factory production and our appetite for SUVs. We need to find alternative energy sources to foreign and domestic oil. The Bush proposal would destroy our national parks and preserves.

It is clear that the forward-thinking candidate for president is Al Gore.

JAMES FENWICK

Los Angeles

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So here we are again, all the Western, industrialized countries forced to dance following the OPEC music, just like in 1973. And all the ideas to develop alternative sources of energy have been effectively killed by Big Oil.

I guess that the majority of the OPEC countries are not developed countries, with a big industrial infrastructure or developed agriculture, so they must import most of their goods and agricultural needs from the industrialized Western countries. So why not link the price of, say, the wheat they buy to the price of oil? For each dollar a barrel of oil increases, the price of a ton of wheat goes up two dollars. Then they will see how vulnerable they are and start behaving properly.

EMILIO BERSTEIN

Pacific Palisades