American ingenuity can resolve energy crisis

Dan Smith, Las Vegas

Wednesday, July 16, 2008 | 2:05 a.m.

As a Marine in World War II, I looked out to sea from both Saipan and Iwo Jima and beheld magnificent warships as far as the eye could see, even though a few years earlier, the main portion of our Navy was dead in the water at Pearl Harbor. It told me there was nothing my country couldn’t do.

Now I read that drilling for more oil would put the development of renewable energy resources on the back burner. Thank all the powers that be we weren’t saddled with such negative thinking in 1941. Are we to believe that this great country of ours isn’t up to the task of doing several things at one time?

Our fuel problem goes back at least 30 years to when wise men came to the conclusion that we had become addicted to the automobile, and therefore to oil. As we grew, our own supply of oil became insufficient but, not to worry, we could supplement it with cheap oil from abroad. And that’s what we’ve done despite warnings that the supply would run out someday and we should be planning for that time. We’ve done little, but the only thing that gets people’s dander up is the price of gas today.

Opponents of drilling say it would take years for the final product to reach the market, so why bother? That’s what they said 30 years ago, 20 years ago, 10 years ago and still today.

Despite the shortcomings of both oil and coal, those two energy sources helped make us the great nation we are today. We have to continue to use their tremendous potential, and at the same time increase our emphasis on solar, wind, nuclear, geothermal, natural gas, biomass, and any other possible source of energy, plus energy efficiency and conservation. Who doesn’t think we’re big enough to do it?

Our politicians have been ignoring this evolving problem for decades and continue to do so. We’ll never become a nation of bicyclists no matter how much gas costs, so let’s get off our dependence on imported oil, increase our own supply, and at the same time develop new sources of energy. Don’t tell this old Marine it can’t be done.