Pure Cacophony

Editor's note: Now that I don't have to worry about finding a job, I'm less restrained when expressing my opinion on the hot topics "du jour." However, the downside is: I have become "one of them." You know the type: those crusty curmudgeons who can no longer abide some of the nonsense in the editorial pages of some newspapers. To paraphrase "Pogo," the long running daily comic strip created by Walt Kelly, I have seen the enemy and he is I. Herewith is my latest submission to The Leavenworth Echo.

To the editor:

Once again, we've have to weather the tired exhortations of Bill Cowles as he tries to convince us that "we have more oil and natural gas than all of the Middle East combined." He then cites the U.S. Geological Society (sic) as his source.

Sorry, Bill, but nowhere on its website has the U.S. Geological Service made that claim. Most credible sources for rankings of natural gas and oil reserves have the U.S. in the neighborhood of #12 to #15. But here's the deal; this isn't just a matter of supply but also one of demand. The U.S. consumes more fossil fuel than any other nation in the world by a country mile.

Until we start thinking outside the box and establish a comprehensive energy policy (we're one of the few countries in the world that doesn't have one), the U.S. will continue to reside behind the eight ball, a whole nation of oil junkies who need their fix from dealers located in the Middle East.

Sadly, much of what Bill Cowles has to say is pure cacophony. You can always tell, when someone has to remind you: "I do know what I am talking about." Perhaps the publisher of The Leavenworth Echo should consider a noise ordinance of his own.