Letter: Cleaner sources of energy must be developed

Thursday, April 7, 2005 | 9:34 a.m.

You published a letter on April 4 on the topic of drilling for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Unfortunately, this letter failed to shed any light on the subject.

Extracting the small amount of oil present in the pristine Arctic refuge would do nothing to lessen our dependence on foreign oil or to lower the price of gasoline. The Bush administration's own estimates say that there is likely less than eight months' worth of oil in the refuge, and we wouldn't even see a drop of it at market for 10 years. Several years ago, Chevron-Texaco drilled a test well in the refuge, the results of which have been kept secret. But we do know this -- Chevron-Texaco has joined BP-Amoco and Conoco-Phillips in withdrawing their support of the pro-drilling lobby in Washington.

We can do much more to lessen our dependence on oil by continuing to embrace clean and safe renewable sources of power. In fact, Nevada is leading the nation in developing these technologies, as it has made a commitment to getting 15 percent of its energy from renewable sources by 2013.

Increasing the fuel economy of our cars and trucks would save many times more oil than even the rosiest estimates have the Arctic refuge generating. Closing the loophole that lets SUVs emit more air pollution than other passenger vehicles would save more oil than we import from Iraq and than we could get from the refuge, combined.

We should use American technology, ingenuity and know-how to lead the world in developing and using safe, clean and renewable sources of energy.

BRAD JOHNSON Phoenix Editor's note: The writer tracks Nevada issues as part of his work with the United States Public Interest Research Group.