U.S. has too many energy 'no' votes

We need energy to live in our society. Yet when the power company wanted to put lines along Randall Road, people and signs said, "No." Ted Kennedy put a stop to wind farms along his beautiful Cape Cod coast. And closer to home, we have signs west on Route 64 saying "No!" to wind farms. We have environmentalists saying no to oil shale and oil drilling anywhere in the U.S. And no to offshore drilling. Florida passed a law that prohibits offshore drilling.

What is the rest of the world doing for energy? Russia and China have made claims to the oil under the North Pole and have made agreements with countries in Africa and South America for oil rights.

Most recently, China is reported to have given Cuba a billion dollars to start drilling in the continental shelf off the cost of Cuba, 20 miles from Miami, and there is nothing Florida can do to stop them.

We will not trade with Cuba, but soon we will be buying oil from them for $100-plus a barrel. We could be harvesting the oil from the continental shelf ourselves if we had leadership.

Until we have a viable alternate energy source, we need to drill for and mine our resources. If we did, we probably could have $50 a barrel oil. I look forward to the day when other countries will have high-speed monorails and plenty of heat and electricity, and we will lead the way to energy independence in our horse and buggy.

Robert Chmela Elgin