RE: "Energy Chief Stumps for Domestic Drilling" article.
There is a prevalent stench looming over Washington D.C., in the form our nation's
energy policy. Led by President Bush's administration and locally supported
by Rep. Heather Wilson, R-N.M., this "drill the West" approach does
little for the security or future of our nation or New Mexico.
The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR), the Rocky Mountain Front, and Otero
Mesa in New Mexico are all lined up for the firing squad, while conservation
and efficiency have been abandoned to the vultures by this administration's
neglectful, politically driven, short-sighted energy plans.
The National Environmental Trust testifies that 80 to 90 percent of all U.S.
oil and gas reserves are completely free of any restrictions and are already
open to drilling. Furthermore, the U.S. Geological Survey assesses that the
most important future additions to the nation's petroleum stocks will come from
the reserves of fields already discovered….
The gung-ho attitude of drilling in our nation's wildest public lands will not solve our country's energy, or security problems. I agree with Spencer Abraham when he says, "we need to produce more oil here at home, but he is wrong in calling on the nation to drill for domestic oil in places such as the ANWR…. We must forge a path that will give us true national security, without compromising the protection of our wildest public lands.
Nathan Newcomer
Albuquerque
Published in the Albuquerque Journal 5-5-2002, Letters to the Editor.