EDITOR:
I’m referencing the Jan. 29, 2025 letter to the editor from Congressman Sam Graves.
Graves lumped together DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion) wasteful spending, the southern border crisis, and the goal for “unleashing energy independence.”
First of all, Sam Graves is a protected white male politician who faces no personal or professional fallout from DEI policy changes; secondly, Sam Graves is a member of Congress and they have not been successful in passing immigration bills that would have decreased criminal southern border crossings; thirdly, Sam Graves appears to lack a thorough grasp of optimum environmental energy production and its benefits for U.S. Americans.
Generally our nation exports more oil energy products than it imports, and in total energy consumption we produce more energy than we use. True. (Fact source: United States energy independence en.m.wikipedia.org).
Therefore, “unleashing” energy independence seems overdramatic unless Graves wants to decrease earth/air environmental regulations and add more pollutants for the next U.S. generation. (In simpler Sam Graves terms, that means increased dirty crude oil refinement for internal use).
Additionally, in further communication, Graves could consider the so-called “Grove argument” that recommends U.S. goals for “energy reliability” and “energy resilience,” and thus not focused on “the flawed and infeasible objective of energy independence” which is considered a less measurable concept.
In conclusion, Sam Graves should be transparent and report that great energy strides have been made. With energy diversity and transformative science and technology, our nation is already on a positive path.
--Marie Stutterheim
Weston
