Well it’s time for another R News and Views segment. At the end of these programs we invite you to check out the WJER website to see these comments.

One of the other interesting things on our website is our weekly web poll where we ask you to vote on a topic. This week’s questions were "Do you plan to watch the 2008 Summer Olympics?" And "If you had a chance to travel to China to watch the Olympics would you go?" NBC will glad to know that most of you would prefer to watch the games on TV rather than going to China to see them. If our poll reflects the general feeling of the rest of the world, China is going to be a little disappointed with the turnout at this year’s games. Although I understand they are cutting prices drastically to try and lure people there.

Speaking of our web poll, last week we asked you to weigh in on what you think the solution might be to the price of gas. 29% of you thought that getting more oil out of the ground by drilling in Alaska and other preserves might be the answer. 26% of you thought that reducing demand for oil by switching to alternative fuels and hybrid cars was the way to go. 22% thought that building more refineries in the U.S. would help. 14% thought that decreasing the gas taxes at the pump would help. And 7% didn't think that anything would help. As 82% of you said in an earlier poll, one thing that would help is driving less. I found it interesting this week that the presumptive presidential candidates have done complete turnarounds in their positions. A few weeks ago they both said that allowing more drilling in Alaska and offshore drilling was not the answer. This week they are all for it. I think they call that political expediency. Well, I'm not an expert, don't pretend to be, but their rhetoric on this subject is just that…expediency. America has gone through high oil prices three times in my lifetime and yet our country has not developed a long-term energy policy. We had the best chance to do this in the 1970's, but we blew it. The car companies continued producing gas-guzzlers, and we did nothing to expedite the development of alternative energy sources. So, I weigh in on the side of not allowing offshore drilling. The Energy Information Administration, in a report entitled "The Impacts of Increased Access to Oil and Natural Gas Resources in the Lower 48 Federal Outer Continental Shelf," stated that there would be no significant impact on domestic crude oil and natural gas production or prices before 2030. And all it does, as one of the candidates said a few weeks ago, is postpone temporarily our dependency on fossil fuels. We need to bite the bullet now.... there is only so much oil we can take out of the ground, and then it will be gone. What will we do then? Personally, I would rather know we have an alternative than wait to cross that bridge when we come to it...and we just might have to cross that bridge on foot, because we will be out of gas.

Well, to help you save a little gas there are two local events you can go to this weekend to enjoy what our county has to offer. In downtown Dover it is the 20th Annual Italian American Festival with a lot of good food, great entertainment and other fun activities. And in Dennison it is the American Soldiers Homecoming Festival. Interesting reenactments of World War II battles, living history displays and educational roundtable discussions, along with a parade and entertainment. So save some gas and enjoy these two festivals right here in our own backyard.

Well, those are my views. If you want to see these comments and more, check out the WJER website at wjer.com and click on R News and Views.