My local county supervisor (recently re-elected to a four year term), in a letter to the editor, wrote that to save the planet we must end our use of oil and natural gas. She "wrote" the letter on her computer and e-mailed it to the newspaper – all using technology made possible by petroleum products. She made no offer of an alternative source of electricity, plastic, manufacturing, etc., nor any hint of irony in using the modern miracles made possible by oil to urge an end to the use of oil.

One can dismiss the ravings of a local elected official, but not the nearly identical outburst this week from Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev.

The good senator opined that "coal is making us sick, oil is making us sick – we're ruining our country, we're ruining the planet."

All the labor-saving devices of the Industrial Revolution, all the wonders of its successor in innovation, the Technological Revolution, all the marvels of the last century in transportation, communication, medicine and entertainment – all made possible by the increasingly creative use of oil, coal, and natural gas. All of it swept aside as "ruining the planet."

(Column continues below)

Sen. Reid: Your statement is a monstrous lie, and what's worse, a reflection of a growing madness in the American political ruling class.

Reality Check, Sen. Reid:

We live lives of incomparable convenience as wave after wave of appliances and gadgets powered by fossil fuels directly or by electricity generated by fossil fuels fill the homes of even our poorest citizens.

We live longer lives than our ancestors due to medicines derived from petroleum and the wonders of modern medicine (MRI and laser surgery to name two) made possible by electricity generated by fossil fuels.

Our cell phones, computers, PDAs – not to mention cars, trucks, planes, trains – our entire way of life runs on oil, gas and coal. And we are way better off than our parents and grandparents because of it.

Coal and oil are not "making us sick" – they are the bedrock of our economy, and far from "ruining our country" have made America the most prosperous country in the history of human beings on this planet.

America's increasing reliance on foreign sources of oil is the real problem that demands an American "can do" solution.

Sen. Reid: Democrats are right to urge conservation and alternative energy sources. To that end, my household has two cars – both hybrids. There is a solar power plant on my roof. We have installed the latest energy-saving appliances.

But, Republicans are right too. Five dollar gas is not a sign of "peak oil" – it is a sign that OPEC believes America will not drill the oil virtually bubbling up under our feet and can charge us whatever they want for their oil, and in the process finance the terrorists that hate us. Drill here. Drill now. Bring the prices down.

Pragmatic Americans are wondering how high gas prices (and winter heating oil prices too) have to go before Democrats and Republicans agree to do it all – conserve, develop alternatives and extract the oil, natural gas and coal on federal public lands currently locked up by Congress.

But first, Sen. Reid, stop the madness. If you really believe (with my county supervisor) that we must stop using all coal, natural gas and oil, then you have become the Mad Hatter of American politics. Please step aside for new leadership capable of rational thought and bipartisan problem solving.

Related special offer:

""Drill for American oil NOW!" bumper sticker

"Black Gold Stranglehold: The Myth of Scarcity and the Politics of Oil"