It’s no surprise that a Republican Party pollster was able to get 57 percent of respondents to supposedly approve of drilling for oil in Alaskan National Wildlife Refuge and in coastal waters. I wonder what question was asked. And oilman Bush has threatened Congress with having to explain why gas prices are so high if they don’t approve his demands for more oil. Consider that what we pay for gas at the pump is nowhere near what we pay for our oil wars in terms of lives lost, tax dollars we spend on our military, and the toll our reputation is suffering throughout the world.

Bush says we can trust current drilling technology to prevent pollution associated with the domestic petroleum extraction process. We all know he would never lie to us. Also, John McCain calls for building 45 new nuclear power plants. Imagine how much that will contribute to the amount of nuclear waste we already have too much of.

Well, here are some things Congress might consider: Take some weapons research money and put it into renewable energy technology. Take some of the money we spend on the military to protect the oil fields in the Mideast and put it into upgrading this country’s public transportation infrastructure. The American people should be ready to make the move to more sustainable transportation options. Give us trains instead of airline subsidies. Start installing train tracks and photo voltaic arrays along superhighways. Provide incentives to the domestic auto industry to start producing smaller cars. Make our streets safer for smaller cars and bikes by providing transportation funding to municipalities to rework how traffic is handled.

Instead of putting more money into maintaining an old-fashioned, unsustainable resource like petroleum, Congress should be looking to a saner transportation future.

Harry DeLano
Buffalo

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