Letters: Nov. 21, 2005

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Your story showed how the malfeasance of our congressional leaders and the greed of business executives have turned the American Dream into the American Nightmare. Shame on them! DEBORAH RUSS Aurora, Colo.

The Future of Energy

Your report on the search for new sources of energy lifted my spirits [Oct. 31]. With all the bad news that has inundated us--the war in Iraq, hurricanes, earthquakes and massive federal indebtedness--it has been difficult to see a light at the end of the tunnel. But reading about the efforts to reduce our dependence on oil gives me new hope that my grandchildren are not doomed to third-class status in the future. ERNESTINE DONNELL Austin, Texas

In his Viewpoint "Oil Is Here To Stay," Peter Huber argues that sufficient supplies of oil exist to quench our thirst indefinitely and that we merely need the political will to extract them. His assessment implies that we should continue our addiction to using fossil fuels without fear of consequence. In fact, we are probably paying for that addiction right now in the form of global climate change. Evidence abounds that the earth is warming--melting ice caps, rising sea levels and perhaps even more intense hurricanes devastating our coasts. Most climate scientists believe the warming is directly related to rising concentrations of atmospheric carbon dioxide that have resulted from burning fossil fuels like petroleum. Instead of increasing our addiction to damaging fossil fuels, we should develop the political will to reduce our use. ALAN F. ARBOGAST DEPARTMENT OF GEOGRAPHY MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY East Lansing, Mich.

We lack the political will to rid ourselves of reliance on a substance that damages our environment, our economy, our society and our security and that befouls all that it touches. LOUIS PRADT Wausau, Wis.

The Comeback Iraqi

Joe Klein's column "Look Who's Back!" [Oct. 31], on the political fall and rise of Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Chalabi, referred to "the greasy residue on his résumé." Chalabi was responsible for erroneous information about Saddam Hussein's weapons of mass destruction as well as the notion that invading U.S. troops would be greeted as saviors by the Iraqis. Those missteps do not make him an ideal candidate to be the next Prime Minister of Iraq. But Chalabi's renewed friendliness with the Bush Administration shows he can be counted on to jump-start Iraqi oil sales and trade deals with the U.S. CHARLES ORLOSKI Taylor, Pa.