These groups have been crying out for years about the need to develop alternate fuels like biodiesel and ethanol. But now that food prices are rising, they act as if they had nothing to do with this activity — the law of unintended consequences.

And the future is sure to bring more problems due to their meddling with the capitalistic economy we enjoy. Energy efficient light bulbs being forced upon the country that supposedly save energy are an excellent example. Unfortunately, the mercury that tens of millions of these bulbs will put into the environment is destined to create another huge problem. Just wait for these groups to then deny any involvement in this decision and once again to shift the blame away from themselves and on to another source — the law of unintended consequences.

As for Mr. Midkiff’s assertions that “we are running out of oil” this is simply untrue! According to the Investors Business Daily, there are an estimated one trillion barrels of oil trapped in the shale in the U.S. and Canada. Retrieving just a tenth of this source, we would quadruple our current reserves. Unfortunately, with oil prices at record levels, two weeks ago liberals in Congress with the blessings of environmentalists voted to block environmentally sound development of oil shale in Colorado.

America is the “Saudi Arabia of the world” in coal reserves that would allow for significant increased along with reduced costs in electrical production. But, this usage is blocked with the bogus “humans involved in global warming” scam that keeps Americans’ electrical and natural gas costs artificially high, and destined to go higher.

Mr. Midkiff insists that wind, solar, and other renewable sources are the answer to our energy needs. While they can supplement the total picture, they are not, in the foreseeable future, able to offset our petroleum needs. By the way, he derides ethanol for having to be subsidized but fails to inform the reader that wind and solar power must also be subsidized to be competitive with coal and natural gas.

Having stated the facts, I have not even addressed the immense amounts of oil reserves in Alaska, offshore locations, and public lands, of which the majority have been placed “off limits” to exploration by liberals and environmentalists. Let’s also not forget how these groups have locked the building of new refineries for the past 30 years, forcing us to import more than one million gallons of refined gasoline daily into this country to meet our current energy needs.

These groups have blocked the building of nuclear power plants with phony “scare tactics” for decades. Countries like France and Japan derive a significant percentage of their electrical needs safely from this source without the need for petroleum or natural gas.

Finally, while Americans overwhelmingly support more domestic production of energy to help ease gas prices, liberals in congress, activist judges in the courts, and environmentalists continue to thwart the will of the American people by blocking this effort. There can be no doubt, a significant majority of our energy mess lies squarely at the feet of these groups.

Folks, it boils down to one significant fact. The American people and not OPEC or the oil companies control our energy future. We simply need the will to do so. We need to drill here, drill now, and pay less in the future.

Allen Shirley resides in Joplin.Now, Ken Midkiff (Globe, May 25) of the Sierra Club conveniently denies that his kind have any more blame for our current energy mess than the average citizen. I say (lifting my arm above my head), “It’s a little late for the shoes, I’ll try to save my watch.”

Although Mr. Midkiff is correct that there is no “one” source to blame for this mess, it is absurd to act as if liberals in Congress and environmental groups have not led the pack in preventing America from attaining energy independence. The law of unintended consequences is the rule of the day in demonstrating the mess these groups have helped achieve.

More than a decade ago, environmental and liberal groups insisted that chemical agents must be added to gasoline to reduce emissions. Now we find these agents pollute ground water and had to be removed for public safety — the law of unintended consequence.  Read rest....