New energy policy should be top priority

Harold Wasserman, North Las Vegas

Sunday, May 25, 2008 | 2:07 a.m.

It’s interesting observing the frequent letters to the editor that point the finger at each political party on energy prices. Does anyone remember when, at the start of the Bush administration, Vice President Dick Cheney met with oil companies to formulate American oil policy? Despite legal attempts and other pressure, the results of those agreements were never made public. Are we seeing the consequences now, with never-ending rises in the cost of oil?

We need a new energy policy for this country and the rest of the world. Remember, oil is not a renewable resource. Despite pleas for additional drilling in Alaska and offshore, we are only postponing the inevitable; oil will disappear.

What we need is a concerted effort to find alternatives while there is still time. Such an effort should be like the Manhattan Project, which in three to four years took a laboratory concept and made an atomic bomb. For the cost of a month of the Iraq war, we could probably accomplish this task in a reasonable amount of time.

Since it’s obvious this present administration has no interest in such a project, it’s incumbent on the next administration to be committed to such a goal, and that commitment should be demanded of the current candidates for president.