The claim, as suggested in Arthur I. Cyr’s Jan. 23 column, that fracking offers a lease on energy independence is largely a myth. This idea is being perpetuated by fossil fuel companies and their political allies, as it will enhance their bottom line.

With today’s world economy, anything and everything is subject to being sold to the highest bidder. American natural gas, offshore oil, and even coal are no exceptions. President George W. Bush once suggested that there was 250 years’ worth of coal (for American energy independence) under our soil. There’s now an effort to approve the sale of Wyoming coal to China in unimaginable quantities.

The only way for the United States to be truly energy independent is to put solar panels on all unshaded rooftops and wind turbines throughout the central part of the country, and to engineer a highly sophisticated electrical grid to accommodate those uneven sources of energy.