I heartily disagree with Edgar Allen Beem in his essay against the extraction of oil from tar sands in Alberta and the pipeline to bring it to Texas. Until the time we can rely on wind power, sun power, natural gas and other sources, this country needs a reliable source of oil to heat and light our homes and factories, and run our transportation system.

We do not need Canadian oil if we increase our imports from Venezuela, Saudi Arabia and other Arab countries, but I believe our neighbor to the north is a much more reliable supplier.

The pipeline will be safe and I doubt that 100 percent of those trees will be cut down to extract the oil. As for the increase in carbon dioxide, that should come to zero as the same amount of oil will be consumed whether it comes from overseas or Canada. the pipeline should lower the cost of oil and gasoline, provide thousands of jobs, and I am 100 percent in favor of it.

Richard D. Levin
Jupiter, Fla.


Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.

Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.