Re: Elton Gallegly's April 29 commentary, "Time to drill in ANWR":
U.S. Rep. Elton Gallegly has got it all wrong.
When Bush & Co. came into office, oil was $20 a barrel. Vice President Cheney held secret meetings with oil and gas lobbyists to craft the administration's energy policy while the Republican-held Congress did little to nothing to promote renewable energy programs and/or conservation.
And voila! The oil industry is making out like a bandit while pundits like Gallegly suggest Americans need to make available more of our precious natural resources for their windfall oil profits.
Since we taxpayers foot the bill for his fuel, I doubt the congressman feels any real pain at the pump. But if Gallegly really wants to affect the price of gas for us poor souls, he might consider asking his friends in the White House to release its grip on the topped-off Strategic Petroleum Reserves and prod his buddies in Congress to sign the Investment Tax Credit for Renewable Energy, which is due to expire on December 31.
These immediate answers to the burdens we as constituents face every day have been blocked by this president's veto threats and supported by a Republican minority unwilling to cross party lines.
Someone should advise the congressman we've been over this all before. Opening the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, cutting taxes in this war-torn economy and hobbling conservation with disabling legislation are not the answers we need.
-- Rick Conrad, Oxnard