The Baytown Sun (Baytown, Tex.), Vol. 88, No. 171, Ed. 1 Friday, June 20, 2008 Page: 4 of 12
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OPINION
4A
Friday, June 20,2008
THE BAYTOWN SUN
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Offshore
drilling
The global warming debate
426-8066
jn.com
i.com
It may not be a cure-all, but
it’s a step in the right direction
Editorial written by David Bloom,
managing editor of The Bay town Sun, on
behalf of the news paper’s editorial board.
WRITE TO US
The Sun welcomes letters
of up to 300 words and
guest columns of up to 500
words. Guest columns
should include a photo of
Baytown resident Ray Wilson is a retired
Exxon process supervisor. He can be reached
at rayehasen@comcast.net.
pursuing innovative ways to clean-up the envi-
ronment.
As presidential candidate John McCain
stated last week, that it is time to end the
RAY
WILSON
Evelyn Guidry
Baytown
Don Sanders
Baytown
David Bloom
Managing Editor
Luke Hales
City Editor
M.A. Bengtson
Community member
MISS YOUR PAPER?
You should receive your
Baytown Sun by 6 a.m.
Monday through Saturday
and by 8 a.m. Sunday If you
do not receive your paper on
time, call (281) 425-8066 by
9 a.m. to ensure redelivery.
FRED HARTMAN
Publisher Emeritus
1950-1974
.GAS,
202-224-2934
713-572-3337
Fax: 202-228-2856
Fax: 713-572-3777
comyn.senate.gov/
contact/index.html
Ted Poe,
Dist 2 Rep.
866-425-6565
866-447-0242
www.house.gov/
poe
Ron Paul,
Ost. 14 Rep.
202-225-2831
979-230-0000
www.house.gov/
paul
Gene Green.
Dist. 29 Rep.
202-225-1688
713-330-0761
www.house.gov/
green
HOW TO REACH US
Clifton E. “Cliff” Clements,
Publisher
cliff.clements@baytownsun.com
Sandy Denson, Business Mgr.
sandydenson@baytownsun.com
Joshua Hart, Circulation Manager
joshua.hart@baytownsun.com
Gordon Gallatin,
Advertising Director
gordoagatatin@baytownsun.com
NEWSROOM
David Bloom, Managing Editor
david.bloom@baytownsun.com
J
Government officials
Federal
George W. Bush,
President
202-456-1111
Fax: 202-456-2326
president®
whitehouse.gov
Dick Cheney,
Vice President
202-456-2324
Fax: 202-456-2461
vice-president®
whitehouse.gov
Kay Bailey
Hutchison.
Senator
202-224-5922
713-653-3456
Fax: 202-224-0776
Fax: 713-209-3459
hutchtson.se nate.
gov/fe-mail.htm
John Cornyn,
Senator
EDITORIAL BOARD
Clifton E. “Cliff” Clements
Editor/Publisher
Jim Finley
retired Managing Editor
Jay Eshbach
Community member
OFFSHORE
t>R‘LLIN6
NOW
W Baptoton £un
1301 Memorial Drive, P.0. Box 90
Baytown, Texas 77522
Main: (281) 422-8302
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Web site: www.t
Look for the new
number
in today's BUR
to publish any submission.
Send signed letters to:
David Bloom, The Baytown
Sun, P.O. Box 90, Baytown,
77522; fax them to (281) 427-
1880 or send an e-mail to
sunnews@baytownsun.com.
Items featured on this
page are the views of the
persons identified with each
submission and do not nec-
essarily reflect the views of
The Baytown Sun or its
advertisers.
ed by President Bush and Sen. John
| McCain, a growing numbers of politi-
» ■* cians say they are willing to drop
strict environmental protections to allow
more offshore drilling for oil. Our response:
“what took y’all so long?”
It’s pretty clear to most of us on the Sun
editorial board that when it comes to energy,
what we really need is to produce more, use
less, and find new sources of power.
This nation cannot afford to put off seri-
ous energy reform any longer. Let’s start
with more domestic drilling by lifting the
27-year-old federal ban on offshore drilling.
The moratorium applies to all federal
waters, which extend three miles from the
coastlines.
However, offshore drilling is no panacea.
It certainly doesn’t provide a short-term
answer to the high gasoline prices that have
angered Americans. It would take up to five
years to start pumping significant amounts
of oil from new wells.
But it’s a step in the right direction.
Working Americans rightly believe their
government has a duty to finally assure the
energy security of this country.
All across this state and nation, people are
hurting. Small farmers, truckers, and taxi
drivers are unable to cover costs. Small
business owners are struggling to meet pay-
roll. The cost of living is rising, and the
value of paychecks is falling. All of this is
in large part because the price of oil is too
high, and the supply of oil is too uncertain.
The American people have had enough of
high gas prices and our government’s
unwillingness to take care of us.
According to the U.S. Department of the
Interior and Congressman Ted Poe, there are
approximately 420 trillion cubic feet of nat-
ural gas and more than 86 billion barrels of
oil yet to be discovered along the Outer
Continental Shelf in the lower 48 States.
That is enough oil or natural gas to:
• Maintain cunent oil production for 87
years and cunent natural gas production for
68 years;
• Produce gasoline for 116 million cars
and heating oil for 47 million homes for 15
years;
• Replace cunent imports from the
Persian Gulf for 59 years;
• Produce sufficient natural gas to heat 75
million homes for 60 years;
• And supply cunent industrial and com-
mercial needs for 29 years or supply elec-
tricity generating needs for 55 years.
We are the only country in the world that
does not fully cultivate their oil and natural
gas resources. There is absolutely no good
reason why we cannot expand current off-
shore drilling in the Gulf of Mexico to the
coasts of Florida, California and the eastern
seaboard.
Tomorrow marks the official arrival of
summer, but the past few weeks of soaring
temperatures and high humidity makes the
June 21 date just another hot day on the cal-
endar. Besides the heat, summer means
numerous outside activities. However, as the
thermometer creeps toward the century mark,
the increase exposure to the heat could pose
potential health hazards, particularly for the
very young and elderly. Summer also means
an increase in the number of biting insects,
such as mosquitoes.
Besides heat-related illness and infections
caused by insect bites, summer also brings
other safety and health concerns. Each year
nationwide, almost 300 children under the age
of five years old drown in residential swim-
ming pools. There are over 900 deaths and
another 500,000 injuries related to bicycle
accidents. Another potential summer hazard
that is often overlooked is the family vehicle.
As summer temperatures soar, we should be
extra mindful of the effect of high tempera-
t-----x:..,------------1..-.,. r--------
the windows down and the outside tempera-
ture at 85 degrees, the vehicle’s inside temper-
ature can reach over 110 degrees. In addition,
the vehicle’s interior color makes a difference
in the temperature increase. At 80 degrees a
closed vehicle’s inside temperature can reach
anywhere from 135 degrees with white interi-
or to 192 degrees with black interior. A per-
son can also get a severe bum from the vehi-
cle seat in high temperatures, especially if it
has been setting in the heat for an extended
period.
the writer.
We publish only original
material addressed to The
Baytown Sun bearing the
writer’s signature. An
address and phone number
not for publication should be
included. All letters and
guest columns are subject
to editing, and the Sun
reserves the right to refuse
emissions would still result in cleaner air.
The public debate over global warming will
only intensify, and no matter what position a
person takes on the issue, making the environ-
ment clean and healthy for future generations
should be the approach we all should take.
Drill now, drill deep
Some people seem to suggest that
there is no difference between
American oil companies and OPEC.
1 beg to differ, and trust Exxon Mobil
and other American companies far
more than 1 do the oil sheiks of the
Middle East.
A major supply of our crude oil
comes from Mexico and that supplier
is the Mexican government, which is
corrupt from the bottom up. The
sheiks are in the business of building
Dubai thanks to our money being
stolen.
The main objection to not drilling
in ANWAR is that the caribou need
to be protected. Personally, I don’t
much care about the caribou, espe-
cially when it comes to my lifestyle.
Don’t much care about the cows I eat
at Outback either. According to most
reports, they can safely drill for oil in
Alaska and not one caribou will be
affected.
I worked for Exxon for more than
30 years and they never cheated me,
and I just love my new SUV If
Congress would follow the
President’s advice and open up
Alaska and offshore sites for drilling
the price of gasoline will plummet
before even one drop of oil is
pumped out of the ground.
Competition and the threat of compe-
tition will lower the prices almost
overnight.
BFD to the rescue
Tuesday’s much needed rain
brought an unneeded friend ... a
flood in our church. Our church is
currently undergoing construction,
and Tuesday’s downpour left about 2
inches of water in our building.
Alerted by the church’s fire alarm
system, the Baytown Fire Department
was the first to respond. After deter-
mining that there was no fire and
only flooding, the fire fighters then
proceeded to go “above and beyond
the call of duty”... they put in a call
to their brother firefighters for water
squeegees and mops! The firefighters
of Stations 1 and 3 proceeded to
remove the water, dry the floor, and
move priceless church furniture from
out of harms way. These firefighters
saved the day. So, on behalf of the
parishioners of Trinity Church, we
say “Well done, good and faithful
servants.” God bless the firefighters
of Stations 1 and 3.
Robert Horton, Trinity Church
Baytown
Who is the priority?
Evidently our son was not at the U-
Haul on North Main Street and
Highway 146. He went for some
propane for his bottles for his trailer.
After waiting approximately an hour
in line, an employee came back and
my son told him that all he wanted
was some propane. The employee
told him, “you’re not my priority.”
Evidently, his priority was the people
renting trucks. He asked the employ-
ee, “when did you decide I wasn’t
your priority?”
He replied, “just now.”
Having worked in business for a
number of years, I would have been
fired if I told a customer wanting
only a paint brush that “your are not
my priority.” Everyone is a priority in
businesses!
inhabitants if nothing isn’t
done to curb global warm-
ing, while others debunk
the the ory of global warm-
ing entirely.
While 70 percent of
Americans believe that
■ global warming is a major
problem, the public debate
in how to address this issue
_ is varied and complex.
Congress has considered
various bills that would limit the amount of
greenhouse emissions released into the atmos-
phere. The most prominent is the Climate
Stewardship Act, co-sponsored by Senators
Joe Lieberman and John McCain, which
would cap and reduce the amount of CO2 and
five other heat-trapping pollutants emitted by
industries, The legislation failed to gain
enough votes in the Senate to become law.
Last year former Vice President Al Gore’s
documentary, “An Inconvenient Truth,” on the
turns while traveling in our vehicle. Even with effects of climate change won an Academy
hotter and hotter; the discussion concerning
climate change intensifies. We hear the words
“greenhouse effect” and “global warming”
more and more. Greenhouse effect is the term
that describes the natural warming’ process in
the atmosphere. Carbon dioxide (CO2) and
certain other gases are always present in the
atmosphere producing a warming effect simi-
lar to a greenhouse, hence the term green-
house effect. The greenhouse effect keeps the feel it will push countries and industries into
earth warm and habitable, and without it, the f—““ ---------------‘k-----
earth’s average temperature would be about
60 degrees Fahrenheit cooler.
The earth has been gradually heating up,
about a quarter of a degree every 1,000 years, wrangling over global warming, and if the sci-
since the last Ice Age. However, since the start entific community is wrong about the cata-
of the Industrial Revolution a couple centuries strophic consequence, then the efforts to limit
ago, the amount of gases pumped into the —-------,J ----’*------“
atmosphere has increase significantly causing
what scientists refer to as “enhanced green-
house effect” This enhanced greenhouse
effect is trapping more of the sun’s heat in the
earth’s atmosphere, causing the average earth
temperature to increase at a higher rate. This
increase is what some experts call global
warming, and some predict devastating conse-
quences to the health of the planet and its
Award and the Nobel Peace Prize for Gore.
In 1997 in Kyoto, Japan, 141 nations nego-
tiated an agreement aimed at controlling glob-
al warming linked to CO2 and other green-
house gases. The pact, known as the Kyoto
Treaty, went into effect in February 2005. It
limits the amount of emissions from 35 indus-
trialized countries, exempting developing
nations allowing them the opportunity to
become economically developed. Although
the United States helped shape the Treaty,
President Bush elected to discontinue
Each year as summers appears to be getting America’s commitment to it. Bush says the
■“----j i——■ *>-- a:------:--------:— Treaty would harm the American economy
and is ineffective and discriminatory because
large developing nations such as China and
India are not required to follow the limits.
Without the United States participation,
some feel the Kyoto Treaty could end up as
ineffectual as the post World War I League of
Nations. But, with the vast majority of the
worlds powers supporting the Treaty, many
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Clements, Clifford E. The Baytown Sun (Baytown, Tex.), Vol. 88, No. 171, Ed. 1 Friday, June 20, 2008, newspaper, June 20, 2008; Baytown, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1192326/m1/4/: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Sterling Municipal Library.