Letters 1-10

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Waimea

Big oil bashing

America needs cheap domestic energy, jobs

Propaganda spewed last Sunday on the Keystone XL pipeline is one of the reasons why this country is in such economic distress.

I am not an opponent of clean energy nor a proponent of big oil, but I certainly do feel that people taking the hard line against big oil need to be a bit more flexible and consider the nation’s economy first.

Before Americans can continue moving toward a clean energy future, they need to put food in their mouths and get out of debt. In order to accomplish this many need jobs, good paying jobs. Jobs where people can buy photovoltaic, hybrids, whatever else middle America can do to quell environmentalists’ shrieks for cleaner energy.

The Keystone pipeline will certainly afford this on a huge scale, much like the Alaskan pipeline did several years ago. Engineering technology has advanced significantly and if they want to export what they don’t sell domestically, I say do it, after all, turnabout is fair play.

Environmentalists need to understand that maybe the anti-big oil attitude is anti-productive and anti-American in today’s economy. I do believe that clean air initiatives are a good thing, however, I think global warming can wait a while until all Americans are in a pro-active position to participate. After all, global warming didn’t happen overnight and it certainly won’t be cured without time and patience on the part of the environmentalists.

Right now, Americans need cheap domestic energy and jobs and lots of both.

On the letter concerning the Department of Motor Vehicles, I feel it does an excellent job.

It helps to realize that fees for renewal are twice as much on Oahu, lines are eight times as long on Oahu and the clerks are 10 times less friendly.

Leilani Lee

Waimea