POLITICS - Letter to Congress

[deerwhacker444]

.
Well, I've had enough and I'm sending a letter to each of my congressmen. I doubt it will do any good, but I've just got to do something to let them know I disapprove of the current situation. I'm sending it smail mail so somebody will have to open it up. Feel free to use if you want, I'm no English professor so you might need to fix some of the grammar.



"I would like to know what YOU as my congressman are doing about getting the U.S. off of its dependence on foreign oil? I am tired of seeing my hard earned money go to OPEC countries who do not have the U.S.’s interests at heart. I would prefer to pay American companies for energy rather than paying countries that sponsor terrorism throughout the globe. I am also tired of my tax dollars being used to pay the salaries of a Do-Nothing congress that refuses to help the very people who elected them.

Why is it illegal for oil companies to explore or drill for oil in the Atlantic, in the Eastern Gulf of Mexico, in the Pacific, and in Northern Alaska? Why are we not using our own enormous fields of shale oil found in the Rocky Mountains?

A 2005 estimate set the total world resources of oil shale at 411 gigatons — enough to yield 2.8 to 3.3 trillion barrels of shale oil. This is more than the world's proven conventional oil reserves, estimated to be 1.317 trillion barrels as of 1 January 2007. The largest deposits of Shale oil in the world are found in the United States in the Green River basin, which covers portions of Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming; about 70% of this resource is located on federally owned or managed land. Deposits in the United States constitute 62% of world resources; together, the United States, Russia and Brazil account for 86% of the world's resources in terms of shale oil content. These figures are considered tentative, as several deposits have not yet been explored or analyzed.

Why are these HUGE reserves of oil shale off limits for our energy needs?

I’m sure that you are aware that Brazil has recently found 2 gigantic oil fields in the Atlantic Ocean. Combined with these newly found oil reserves and Brazil’s production of Ethanol from sugarcane, Brazil is now independent of foreign oil. I find it unacceptable that a nation with our knowledge and wealth cannot become energy independent like Brazil.

It would be wonderful if everyone in the U.S. could just go out and purchase a new hybrid or electric vehicle. But the simple fact is most people like me cannot afford to go out a purchase a new vehicle at the drop of a hat. I have never owned a new vehicle. Most people purchasing a new vehicle will have to make a multi year commitment to pay off an auto loan. And in today’s economy, people don’t know if they’ll have a job next week, much less know if they’ll be employed years down the road. I am forced to make due with what vehicle I have. Currently I am spending 25%-30% of my take home pay for gasoline to go to work. How would you like to spend 25%-30% of your salary to get to work?

It is time to produce more energy ourselves. It is time to allow for the construction of new refineries on U.S. soil and to become independent of foreign energy sources. It is time for Congress to stop “Breaking the Backs and Walletsâ€

[FWiedner]

I'd bet money that most of the money that Americans are spending on oil is going into the government's pocket in TAXES.

How about we eliminate our dependence on that entity?

JMO.

[ole pizen slinger]

deerwhacker444,
I commend you on being patriotic and letting your representatives know where you stand on this issue.
ole pizen slinger

[donw]

i doubt you'll get a response. i also doubt congress will do anything about the current 'crisis'.

[Tycer]

deerwhacker444,
I commend you on being patriotic and letting your representatives know where you stand on this issue.
ole pizen slinger

+1!

[Ysabel Kid]

Good letter, but you are correct - I doubt you get a response, especially since certain economic illiterate members of members of Congress thinking about nationalizing the oil companies...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lI4OHVTNzlg

The CEO of my company blasted Congress last week. Said it was ludicrous that Congress was playing partisan games while we sat on such proven reserves and gas is where it is price-wise. He hit the nail on the head – we need to have a world-class nuclear energy program (like France), world-class conservation and efficiency programs (like western Europe), world-class R&D into alternative fuels/energy sources – AND be exploring, drilling, and refining our own proven reserves extensively – all at the same time. Nothing short of this is going to help one little bit…

[Hobie]

Amen. If we approached this like we were doing prior to 3-Mile Island and the Santa Barbara spill we'd be doing quite well. Yeah, I said that before but only because I remember those two incidents and how many nuke plants stopped in the middle of construction and how oil exploration on OUR coasts by US suddenly became a no go.

[RIHMFIRE]

my letter to congress was much shorter and more to the point

KISS MY ___

I feel better now

[66GTO]

Yep. I have written twice to my congressman and senators. Once when gas hit $3 and again when it hit $4. I told them I would write again when it hit $5 if I could still afford a postage stamp.

I said the same things you did, except I added that corn to ethanol was a farce and waste of good food. And also pointed out the fallacy of refusing to drill offshore for fear of oil spills. I live on the Gulf coast and pointed out that when Katrina and Rita blew down every oil rig in the western Gulf of Mexico there was not one single oil spill reported. That was the worst case scenario for offshore oil rigs and not one spill.

Congressmen are a bunch of hypocrites. They bemoan the high price of gasoline to the voters while enacting legislation preventing the drilling for domestic oil and preventing the construction of oil refineries. Also, they prevent the construction of nuclear power plants, which could replace oil and gas powered plants and would produce ZERO greenhouse gases. Not that I care. I don't believe greenhouse gases cause warming. Other than geothermal, every bit of heat the earth gets comes from the sun. A small change in solar output will have a direct and immediate effect on global warming or cooling.

I encourage everyone to write your congressman and senators about this.

[Hobie]

my letter to congress was much shorter and more to the point

KISS MY ___

I feel better now

Now you know I had to edit that out...

[ole pizen slinger]

I called all three of my representatives and got to talk with someone in each office--one never gets to talk with the representatives personally. Best conversation was with Heath Shuler's office. I was told that Congress is doing something about the high gas prices. He said, "Just last week we voted and the President agreed to stop filling the Strategic Oil Reserve. That will save the consumer $0.25 per gallon on gas." To which I replied that I could tell BS when I heard it.
ole pizen slinger

[piller]

My Father retired from Panhandle Eastern Pipeline Company, and I used to work for an Enron subsidary. There is enough natural gas which is being forcibly stopped from removal from the ground by Severance (double) Taxation that we could run this country on Natural Gas for 100 years at the present growth rate of energy consumption. The amount of oil fouling the Natural Gas wells could be cleared off and used to run the country for about 2 to 3 years, and this is just the waste. Mike Rintoul of Grizzley Cartridge was (I think) an Engineer for an oil company and he knows even more about this than I do. I spoke to him briefly while we were down in Hondo about the oil company he worked, and if you can get him to open up, he is very knowledgeable.

I don't really care if an oil derrick in the ocean would ruin Walter Cronkite's view from his picture window, we need the oil while we find other means of fueling our country.