Dear Mr. Shaw
You represent the people and I don’t believe you have adequately polled your constituents on the matter of offshore drilling. I do not want it and the talk of protecting us by allowing the 125 mile rule is hogwash. Bush was against all drilling in the gulf and now he is Ok with it over 100 miles offshore. I have not changed my mind.
What our country needs is much stronger conservation laws. We will never be able to keep up with the needs of oil/gas with the current usage rate in our country. Allowing the new law is tantamount to short term business pandering. In 5- 10 years when we would realize the benefit of any offshore drilling, our country will have more serious energy problems if there has been no action towards reducing consumption.
1. I agree with businessman Mike Maroone. We need a higher fuel tax to drive a change in consumer behavior.
2. We need to drive consumer sales of more fuel efficient cars. Case in point: A friend went to buy a new 4 door sedan,. It was all she needed. But the automaker gave her free financing and a host of other discounts that made the vehicle cheaper to buy than the sedan. She was not concerned about fuel costs. We should CREATE A SURCHARGE TAX for gas guzzling cars for non-commercial use.
3. We need to change auto industry manufacturing. We loosened the grip on fuel efficiency requirements resulting in virtually no improvement in the AVERAGE overall efficiency of vehicles on the road. It’s time to toughen up the laws again requiring auto makers to achieve fuel efficiency targets. Yes, it resulted in a record boom of cars sales and boosted the economy. But at what cost? A permanent nationwide fuel shortage?
You were elected by the people, for the people, and you have done many great things for us. But sometimes I feel that you make too many compromises that are clearly driven by politics. This is one of them. VOTE AGAINST OFFSHORE DRILLING.