By Cindy Allen, commentary

When are we going to see real vision for progress and improvement from our national leaders?

I’m beginning to think never. Why? Because politics trumps common sense every single time.

We’re moaning and groaning about gas prices, but we have no one to blame but ourselves for letting our leaders fail so miserably in developing an energy policy for our country.

Our political leaders — and I mean both political parties — have become so beholden to special interests, they are taking our country future’s down the drain. They are focused on dim-witted, short-term solutions and refusing — absolutely refusing — to see the big picture.

Why doesn’t the United States have a comprehensive energy policy? We’ve been talking about it for at least a decade. But dim-witted politicians are holding up progress and forfeiting our country’s future for short-term political power and gain. And they’re relinquishing their responsibilities in making tough, but necessary decisions to ensure our energy future.

We have known for a long time the clock was ticking on energy for our country. We have known we need to find ways to produce more sources for energy.

The answer to energy problems should have been addressed a decade ago or longer. A bipartisan group of 20 experts in energy met for over three years to come up with a plan to help alleviate the impending energy crisis. They completed their work in 2004 with recommendations that encompass the issues of oil security, the environment, fuel efficiency, renewable fuels, etc.

Yes, the commission recommended environmental controls, expanding renewable fuel sources and fuel efficiency standards. Also among those suggestions, however, were to expand and develop nuclear energy, explore and develop the fields in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR), build more refineries and increase mandatory fuel efficiency standards for automobiles, trucks and utility vehicles.

About the only thing we see any movement on are raising fuel efficiency standards and subsidies for ethanol production, which is now under fire because of increased costs for food.

All the Democrats have to offer is taxing the oil industry more and more. Wow, what a concept — one that failed miserably the first time we tried it. All that will accomplish is oil companies spending less capital on exploration, which will set us back even further. Taxing oil companies will not produce one more barrel of oil or produce any new development or exploration for new energy resources in this country. It will limit both.

Also, all the Democrats have to offer are ways to force Americans to reduce their use of energy sources. Those policies do nothing to answer the need for production of more energy resources, oil included. We can’t reduce our way to lower gas prices. Why? Because we’re not the only people on the planet consuming oil. Other countries, with far fewer regulations on their use of oil and gas, are competing with us for oil and gas resources.

Production of fuel resources has to be a part of the solution. Any politician — Democrat or Republican — who fails to endorse policies that encourage more production of oil should be soundly rejected by the voters.

Sen. Harry Reid said this week ANWR is off the table — no drilling. So, thanks Sen. Reid. You and all your other co-horts need to be held personally responsible by the American people for basically taking one answer off the table. I’m sure Reid and his cohorts don’t support any kind of improvement and development of production or refinery capacity either, when that is clearly a path we need to take and have needed to take for at least 20 years.

These political leaders have basically told U.S. consumers, “tough.” They’re telling us the only way to solve this problem is for us to reduce our fuel consumption. Reducing fuel consumption or taxing the oil companies won’t lower oil prices or gas prices one cent. We have to find more sources for fuel, and that means more domestic oil production, not less.

Oil companies aren’t the enemy in this energy crisis. Congress is. In my opinion, this is the most critical issue of the 2008 presidential and general election campaign. If we, the public, don’t demand some good and progressive solutions to our energy problems — including more oil production, refinery capacity and development of other energy courses — then we’ll just get more of what we’ve been getting. Poor energy policies, more dependence on foreign oil and higher and higher gas prices that will eventually put a lot of this country out of business.



Allen is managing editor of the Enid News & Eagle. She can be reached at 548-8163 or by e-mail at editor@enidnews.com.