40 years too late

This is in reference to a letter to the editor published recently in area newspapers from Rep. Jerry Moran.

We agree with most of what he said, but he is about 40 years too late. When the OPEC oil embargo ended in the 1970s, many (including the undersigned) wrote to their congressional delegations urging them to appropriate funds for research to develop renewable sources to oil. What did we get? Then President Nixon appeared on television grinning like a Cheshire cat proclaiming "There will be no rationing of gasoline in the United States of America."

At that time, of course, he was right; but anyone with an IQ of a least 5 could anticipate adverse conditions in the future. It took nearly 40 years to get to that point, but the results of doing nothing are painfully evident now. The Saudis, other OPEC nations, and sundry oil producers are now reaping the benefits of our merrily coasting along doing nothing.

It appears, just maybe on the strength of Congressman Moran's letter, that in a rare moment of common sense, the Congress may take some action in lifting some of the restrictions on drilling for oil and gas off shore and on government-owned land. Contrary to Congress's opinion that we are a bunch of stupid idiots, we have the engineering brains in this country to develop the means for protecting our marine, wildlife, and environment. One of the objections to wind farms is that it disturbs the life of our domestic animals.

Recently when we were driving west of Salina on I-70 when we passed the Smoky Hills Wind Farm, we saw a herd of dairy cows resting peacefully under the rotating blades of a wind turbine; cows and horses have been grazing normally for years beside mule heads pumping oil in the Hays area.

Regarding the excessive gasoline prices, as the saying goes, there is enough blame to go around. Some blame greed on the part of everyone in the oil business. Sundry others get their share of the blame -- speculators, producers, refinery shortage, ad infinitum. As Congressman Moran says, we need to explore and develop all of the practical possibilities.

During the oil embargo in the 1970s, we were importing about 34 percent of our oil; we are now importing around 60 percent. Given the problems associated with the embargo, one can't even imagine what would happen if the OPEC producers would cut off our supply now. We think they would seriously consider that except for their greed; so long as we support Israel that is a strong possibility and we certainly can't abandon the Israelis.

We don't think the candidates for our president offer much choice; given the sorry performance of the Republican administration (Bush), one can easily be persuaded to look elsewhere. The Democrats aren't off the hook either; Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi had a great opportunity to develop bipartisan entity in the Congress, and they blew it.

Ideally, we will elect a bipartisan Congress and president. Given the track record of past congressmen and presidents, if one believed that, one would also believe that hell will freeze over.

Carl and Darlene Schlegel

2703 Hillcrest Drive