(Daily Local News, 5/20/08, p. A4)

We must all change our bad habits

In Monday’s paper Nick Psoras asked “how long until environmentalist politicians do something honest for us?”

I too believe that there are too many politicians (on both sides) whose hands are in the pockets of lobbyists. But there is a bigger problem out there other than elected officials: the American consumer.

Instead of asking the mother in the grocery store how many trips her family plans to take this summer, whether or not they have extra money for a pool membership or how well her family eats, there is one big question that should be asked:

How has your family cut their consumption of gas and oil-related products?

That would include not using plastic bags at stores (there are plenty of stores out there that offer fantastic, reusable bags very inexpensively), buying local produce and meats, using the shortest route to do all of your errands, trading the SUV you really don’t need in on something more fuel efficient and just being more consciences of your purchases.

Yes, we vote to elect those who represent us but we also vote with our money every time we swipe that debit/credit card.

As a country we have all made bad decisions for a very long time. We should have been pushing automakers for decades (since the last crisis in the 1970s, as Mr. Psoras points out) to increase gas mileage and find alternative fuels. We should have been finding ways to become less dependent on foreign oil without increasing our output. Remember, ours isn’t going to last forever either.

And while it may decrease our burden for a time, it is only a Band-Aid. Our only hope is to make better choices starting today. Unless we all change our habits, we will be at the mercy of OPEC for a long time.

Amanda Ashbee
Downingtown

Politicians and consumers to blame

Mr. Nick Psoras, in his May 19 letter, wants to blame “environmental politicians” for $4 gas. I don’t know how many environmental politicians there are, but I’m pretty sure there are not enough to control America’s energy policy.

We have $4 gas because oil is near $130 a barrel. The reason for this is good, old-fashioned supply and demand. Global demand for oil is exploding. Supply has not increased accordingly. Economics 101 will tell you that means higher prices.

Everybody’s quick answer is to increase domestic production, specifically, ANWR. If ANWR were brought to peak production tomorrow it would supply under 5 percent of our domestic consumption. More importantly, bringing that amount of oil on the global market would have very little impact on world oil prices. Drilling is not going to solve the problem.

If you want to blame somebody for the price of oil, let’s blame the politicians who did nothing to increase CAFÉ standards. Or politicians who did nothing to make public transportation more viable. Or blame the neo-cons because the war in Iraq didn’t help matters, either.

Or, heaven forbid, we blame ourselves for continuing to scarf up all the 12 mpg cars and SUVs Detroit was willing to crank out (at huge profit margins) and for putting little or no thought into car pooling or trip reduction.

We have done very little to promote conservation. The 2001 Cheney energy policy treated conservation as nothing more than a quaint idea.

We, as a country, want it all. Cheap gas and the right to use it as if it were in endless supply. With predictions of $200 a barrel oil, it is time we snap out of it. We need to develop real alternative energy solutions, but until they come about lowering demand is the quickest way to impact energy prices.

Remember Economics 101. It all about supply and demand.

John Emmet
Downingtown