Letters

Reader dislikes political feature

Your October article "Are we there yet?" by NRCA Vice President of Government Relations Craig S. Brightup, page 28, does not explain the larger picture of how the economy is interrelated, and much of what Brightup says is unsupported by facts.

For example, Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) supports domestic oil drilling, even offshore drilling.

Keep your politics out of the organization, and prevent alienating your members; they may think differently than you would assume. After all, why would anyone support "more of the same" considering the awful mess the Bush administration has led us into ... on almost every front?

Christopher Alt, RA
Studio MA Inc.
Phoenix

Brightup responds: All aspects of my article were thoroughly researched, are factually based and can be substantiated. Alt suggests Obama's position on domestic oil drilling has been misrepresented.

In my article, I state: "Obama and most Democrats are hesitant to support—if not adamantly opposed to—more domestic drilling and nuclear energy."

Obama and most congressional Democrats have indeed been opposed to more domestic drilling but, in August, under public pressure, Democrats reluctantly accepted a highly restricted version of domestic drilling only as part of a larger package with renewable-energy mandates and tax increases on energy producers. This was to thwart ending the ban on offshore and shale exploration, and weeks earlier, Obama stated that if only Americans would inflate their tires properly and get regular tune-ups, "We could save all the oil that they're talking about getting off drilling."

However, with a September poll by the Pew Research Center showing 67 percent of Americans favor offshore drilling, the package failed and the ban ended without qualification.