Energy imperative

Thank you for the opinion-page articles "Oil Drilling in the Arctic Refuge: Two Views," July 23. I appreciate the opportunity to study experts' views. The pro-drilling perspective is based on what the author says is an "imperative": that the US find new domestic sources of oil. This is not the imperative. Rather, it is more short-term thinking. What is imperative is that the US take seriously the development of alternative energy sources.John Audubon once may have supported balancing oil extraction with environmental concern, but he never could have foreseen our national gluttony for fossil fuels, nor our helpless resignation at the spilling of those fuels on virtually every body of water on Earth. The problem is not simply the threat of ecological disaster, however, but that we cannot allow another wrong turn on the road to a non-fossil-fuel economy. Laurie W. Ford, Worthington, Ohio Letters are welcome. Only a selection can be published, subject to condensation, and none acknowledged. Please address them to "Readers Write," One Norway St., Boston, MA 02115.