Announcing that the United States will start working to increase its own domestic production would certainly immediately lower the price of crude and refined products. How? Because ample supply of oil leaves no room for price-boosting speculation. By how much? We don't know, but a down trend is better than the up trend we've been experiencing, and those prices would continue to drop as new oil gets closer to production. Democrats also claim that reserves may only be sufficient for a short time period. True, if we were to rely solely on the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and the outer shelf for our needs, but a marginal increase in supply would be sufficient to bring down prices.

The Tribune editorial board would love nothing better than to see big oil and refineries gone tomorrow, so why claim to want to keep the continental shelf oil in "reserve"? Who's going to refine it in 100 years?

Martine Smith

Salt Lake City