I enjoyed the column by Les Otten (June 21). His analysis is spot-on. However, he offered no solutions to limiting our dependence on foreign oil.

I blame the government’s lack of a spine. Otten’s assessment that bold vision is needed is nothing new. The do-nothing government continues to be held hostage by radical governments and small but vocal special interests. Elected officials escape unscathed by shifting public anger to the very oil companies that provide the heating oil.

There are solutions within the people’s grasp.

Brunswick Naval Air Station is slated to be closed in two years. There is ample land with access for alternatives such as an LNG terminal or a nuclear power plant. The U.S. has not built an oil refinery in more than 25 years. Why not put one there?

Special interest groups are more interested in recreational opportunities or land and environmental preservation than keeping the price of oil down, or providing safe, alternative energy. It would be appealing to keep dollars from those who would use them to purchase weapons to use against U.S. personnel, keep the money in Maine and provide jobs for Maine people. But that will never happen.

Otten and others will continue to sound the alarms. Oil will hit $4 per gallon and more. People will blame the government or the oil companies. And in the next major election the voters will elect the same spineless politicians back into office.

We really have no one to blame but ourselves.

Mark S. Wigley, Gilead

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