When I worked as a midlevel manager for a major corporation, I would shut my eyes and tense my jaw when I would get a phone call that started with the words, it seems. My job at that time included having plants call me with any environmental problems they had. In any problem-solving activity, I needed to have actual data to work with. When the conversation started with it seems, I knew I had a lot more work to do. However, I could not convince people at the plant so they would start with those words a majority of the time.

Things are not always what they seem to be. When proper data is collected, a situation can then and only then be properly evaluated.

Somebody mentioned to me the other day that it seemed to them that congress was trying to push through higher gasoline prices and strangle our ability to provide a balanced source of energy to the public. Since they used the words that strike disgust in me, I decided to look at some more data.

The first thing I found was an announcement by the Bureau of Land Management that they were cancelling a number of lease auctions for exploration in Utah. The reason given was that drill platforms or oilrigs might be visible from within the nearby national park. Might be?

The second action was an executive order reestablishing a ban on offshore drilling. My observation was that when President Bush and Congress let the last ban lapse, oil prices immediately began dropping. Does this action mean that prices will again head toward $150 per barrel?

Finally, the House Committee on Natural Resources held a meeting to take testimony on whether the ban should be reinstated. To me, that would mean that they are interested on what people think. However, only five witnesses were invited to give testimony. All of them are democrats and all of them said the ban should be put back in place. Does this mean they could not find anyone in the United States that disagrees with that point of view?

I understand (but don't agree) with the argument that we need to have higher gasoline prices in order to push the people to use more alternative energy sources. However, switching to other energy sources has been a goal for nearly 40 years and we are still not there competitively. It is still too expensive. Why is Congress trying to hide its intentions? I am sure the oil companies would be more than happy to raise their prices and increase their profits but Congress has to quit calling them on the carpet for doing just that. After all, they are only harming the poor in this country and eliminating hundreds of thousands of jobs and the new stimulus package will make up for that according to what they are telling me now. Does it seem right to you?