Running Neck and Neck
Senator Obama's energy policy consists of trying to rein in speculation of oil, promoting alternative energy sources and increasing the mileage standards of automobiles.
First, the automobile manufacturers have been increasing mileage standards for years, and they are currently producing smaller, fuel efficient cars which get 35 to 45 miles per gallon. Second, alternative energy sources, e.g. wind, solar, thermal, hydro, tides can only provide a very small portion, maybe 10 to 15 percent, of our energy requirements. Third, the supposed speculation of oil in the markets has its root cause in the classic economic conditions associated with supply and demand. Any perturbation in the supply of oil puts upward pressure on prices. Supply is controlled by OPEC and other countries, our own oil production, and U.S. oil companies, so to increase supply we have to increase domestic oil production and build refineries. On the demand side, gasoline consumption has been steadily decreasing in the U.S. due to less travel, a switch to smaller cars, car pooling and the increased use of mass transit systems.
Once again Senator Obama comes up with an untenable program, because he does not have the experience and good judgment to make sound decisions. John McCain will increase domestic oil production, build nuclear power plants and promote alternative energy sources.
Donald A. Moskowitz
Londonderry, N. H.
The Republicans like to malign Jimmy Carter, a popular president who up to a few weeks before the election was greatly favored to win a second term. The Iran hostage crisis was acknowledged as his undoing. Many suspect that Republicans made a dirty deal to win the election. Within days of Reagan's election the hostages were released, giving further credence to this likelihood. Jimmy Carter said that the United States must wean itself off fossil fuels and set a goal of 10 percent of our energy needs being met by renewable energy by the year 2000. He even put solar panels on the White House. Ronald Reagan took down the solar panels, busted the unions, began the war on the middle class.?Reagan is revered by the Republican party, which is completely controlled by its corporate sponsors such as Halliburton, ExxonMobil and others. While the vast majority of Americans are struggling from paycheck to paycheck, they are doing very well.
In 2008 we are given the choice between a candidate who?has a proven record of being interested?in the welfare of his fellow beings and is?highly intelligent, adept,?forward-looking, honest and ethical, or a man who in his own biography admits that he seeks office not for what good he can do but because he wants to be president. When John McCain?constantly says "my friends," he is?not talking to us.?Lobbyists and the well connected know how to reach him but the rest of us do not. He is out of touch, out of reach and out of ideas.
Jahfree Harp
Greenfield
