Issue One: The Oil Spill in the Gulf

Why the secrecy?
Simple questions: Why hasn't the U.S. Navy gone down in a manned submersible to the well head that's spewing oil into the Gulf of Mexico for a first-hand look? Why hasn't the government made a 30 minute high-def TV recording for scientists to examine and calculate the flow?

Why is BP in control of the well-head area? Why are no journalists allowed on any of the ships working to fix the blowout? Why did BP withhold TV footage of the blowout for more than 20 days -- and was the government part of that decision?

There seems to be less than total concern about this spill by the government. It's unacceptable to have unanswered and new questions this far into the disaster.

DICK BOLEY
Delmont

Double speak
I am so tired of listening to government officials' double talk regarding the Gulf oil disaster. Even worse is the garbage spewed forth by BP officials. I am sure all these officials, both government and BP, are sitting back and laughing at the gullibility of all the U.S. citizens who are buying into their propaganda.

It is time for the president to fire all government officials who were supposed to be making sure the oil rig was operating safely. The president also should immediately prepare to take over the operation of BP property in the United States and elsewhere, if only on a temporary basis, to compensate the country for the enormous costs involved in cleaning up the company's mess. He must make sure BP can't walk away from its financial obligations. If gasoline costs go up, so be it!

LEONARD LAMBERT
Shadyside

A better way
America's future in meeting its energy needs does not lie in increased fossil fuel production but in retrofitting its energy infrastructure and in developing and deploying alternative sources of energy. If America is to remain economically competitive throughout the 21st century, it must break the untenable cycle of military intervention in resource-rich countries to secure its energy supplies.

The Gulf oil spill is further evidence of the excess risk, limitations and decreasing return on investment that oil exploration imbues with an increasingly archaic technology.

WM. SCOTT PAPPERT
Regent Square