On energy, U.S. has stood in its own way

Jane Ham, Las Vegas

Tuesday, July 8, 2008 | 2:05 a.m.

Instead of blaming “Big Oil,” Mr. Orlis Trone of Fernley wrote an intelligent letter to the Las Vegas Sun, published Friday, about our energy problem.

One reason for the problem is that for decades the United States banned any new offshore drilling for oil — locking that oil away for a rainy day while we imported relatively cheap oil from foreign sources.

We should be developing these natural resources for ourselves. The question is not whether to drill, but who will get the fuel and the profits. A lot of the fault for soaring energy prices is ours. Our federal government saddles our energy producers with too many restrictions and prohibitions.

There is plenty of untapped oil in the United States — including the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. We should start drilling for it now.

Also, we should begin building more nuclear reactors. Unfortunately, we lack the industrial infrastructure to do this. Our federal policy has crippled the market.

The nuclear industry is probably the most regulated in the world. Since it doesn’t look as if the federal government will ever take charge of spent nuclear fuel, the nuclear industry should be given the responsibility for handling its own waste — with safety standards set in Washington.

Opponents of drilling and nuclear power tell us that it will be years before we can produce much more of our own oil, and years to get nuclear power plants operating. True.

But they don’t mention that geothermal, wind and solar energy also will take years to develop. Right now these alternative energy sources are producing only a fraction of America’s needed electric power.

If we want more and cheaper power, our lawmakers will have to stop blocking efforts to produce it.