Congress is Back, Time for Action on Drilling

They're back. The Democrat-controlled Congress, sporting the lowest approval rating in the history of the Republic, has re-convened after it's unfortunate vacation in the midst of an energy crisis.

Supposedly there has been a gradual warming up to the idea of offshore oil drilling, particularly in light of relentless pressure from the GOP demanding that Nancy Pelosi bring the issue up for a vote.

But prudence dictates that we watch these slippery eels like a hawk. Many of the Democrats, along with a few Republicans, talk a good game about offshore oil drilling, but when you read the fine print it is clear that their plan contains so many restrictions it is not much better than the complete ban we have now.

It is time to bombard the offices of Nancy Pelosi and other Democrats with calls and emails demanding a sensible plan to drill in ALL areas offshore that are shown to contain rich oil reserves. And you can add GOP Senators Lindsey Graham, Saxby Chambliss, and others to your call list, because a small handful of Republicans are willing to compromise to the point of negating any sensible plan for drilling.

And while we're at it, we can also put in a plug for nuclear power, compressed natural gas, clean coal, in addition to wind, solar, hydrogen fuel cell, and biofuels.

An ''all of the above" approach is the most sensible approach.

But we can't let the Democrats hamstring our efforts to get our own oil. 'Drill here, drill now' MUST be part of the solution or else we are asking for deep trouble in the short-term.

We MUST not let Pelosi take off the table California, Oregon, Washington, Florida, and other states in the negotiations for offshore oil drilling. ANWR should be back on the table as well.

The time to act is NOW while public sentiment overwhelmingly supports this effort.