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The Weekly News multi part series on energy transitions has spent many words telling us how we need to wean ourselves off of oil and go green. Admittedly I am no expert on these matters, but after nearly 70 years on this planet I have learned a thing or two.

The author stated early on that "we can’t drill our way out of the energy crunch" or words to that effect. To this I say Baloney!

We can and have drilled our way out of similar situations. Jimmy Carter pretty much said the same thing in the '70s. Must conserve, turn down the thermostat, put on a nice sweater, he said. Great, but not very helpful.

The current occupant of the White House is an avowed greenie and has done everything possible to retard further production of fossil fuels here in this country, while at the same time emptying out our strategic reserve supplies of oil, begging OPEC to pump more oil and recently going to a very corrupt regime (Venezuela ), offering to relieve sanctions so that they can pump more of their very dirty oil with help from one of our top producers.

This oil must then be shipped to America and elsewhere no doubt by tanker all the while burning more fossil fuel on the way, lots of it.

From day one of his first and hopefully only term in office, the president has made it clear he is very hostile to pulling energy out of our ground and despite his administration’s claims about "thousands of untapped leases," a bogus claim, they have done little to actually demonstrate a willingness to help out; rather they have declared much land off limits to drilling or exploration.

They remain hostile, but knowing the country is suffering in large part due to these policies they have made overtures to other places to drill somewhere else, but not here. No, No, No.

When Donald Trump left office, we were in fact energy independent, as he allowed and encouraged developing our own natural resources. America does in fact have more oil and gas than Saudi Arabia and our methods of getting it to market are more efficient and cleaner. It thus makes little sense to continue to make overtures to other countries to bail us out, that is if having a cleaner planet is the real goal and not a smokescreen.

We can drill our way out of this. All that's needed is for Joe Biden to get the heck out of the way of the energy producers of this country and let them do what they do best: pull oil and gas out of the ground and get it to market.

Folks, the whole world still runs on fossil fuels, from coal to gas and oil and that will continue for a good long time, way after I am gone. All the pie in the sky wishes of the greenies and their war against fossil fuels does little but hinder our economy and lessen the quality of our lives.

Someday they might develop something that can replace oil, but it is going to be a long time coming. Go ahead and work on that, but in the meantime: “drill baby, drill.”

Stoppelman lives in Shelter Bay.