I n response to Tony Paskitti’s letter, “Massive drilling effort would benefit U.S.,” July 7, in which he referred to a prior letter writer as “a greenie,” Mr. Paskitti needs to do some research about the priorities of the major oil companies, none of which do anything for us, the consumer. He mentions the remarkably low gasoline prices in countries such as Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Iran without pointing out that they produce far more oil than we do, but more importantly, have far fewer cars and road infrastructure than we do over here, not to mention that most of the lower class simply cannot afford automobiles at all. These countries are governed differently than our own, and the rulers have no intention of filling up their limos with expensive petroleum.
As for the high price of gasoline in this country, get used to it, because that is their plan for the future. They have zero intention of lowering it to $2 a gallon or less. First of all, prices are ruled by speculators and big oil, so any political glitch automatically means rates go higher. Secondly, we have millions of square miles of oil rich land that big oil hasn’t even touched that isn’t even under protest by any socalled “greenies.” By intentionally limiting the supply, they can force prices up to an artificially inflated level, just as they had dozens of full tankers circling in the Atlantic Ocean during the so-called 1974 gas shortage. And thirdly, and most importantly, with the explosion of industry in China and India, who both have enormous cash reserves as opposed to debt financing, they are now the preferred customers of big oil. You can bet that any oil that we do produce in this country and offshore, they will probably get the major share. Oil companies have a loyalty only unto themselves and history has proven it. Their response to the Exxon Valdez incident and BP’s involvement in the Gulf of Mexico are only two of the many examples of complete disregard for our own people and the environment.
So let’s stop with the pie-in-thesky thinking that got us in trouble in the first place, and force the oil companies that originate in our country to do right by us: First by voting out any and all representatives of our own government who are in bed with them financially, then by kicking out their lobbyists who rewrite our laws for their own benefit, and third, by eliminating any and all tax breaks, tax shelters, and loopholes that have benefited only them, while keeping billions of dollars out of our tax coffers. They don’t invest in the country; they only care about themselves and their bottom line; many of the “jobs” they create now go overseas and add to our own unemployment. The oil industry is like a perverted monster; it runs amok like a giant vacuum cleaner, sucking in money while leaving us with little more than a huge mound of ecological fecal matter. Trusting the oil industry to look out for the best interests of this country is tantamount to Neville Chamberlain looking out for the best interests of Europe. I am sure that Mr. Paskitti’s heart is in the right place, and it is a big worldwe live in, but doing research into the big business of oil will prove their intent. And as far as a comparison with Greece goes, big oil won’t lift a finger to help; they have two new major customers and will merely move more operations overseas and wave bye-bye to us as we collapse into the abyss of our own trust in corporations such as theirs that point their fingers at us and tell us that what they do “is none of our business.” “Our” business should be to give them a swift kick in the pants; at the polls and in person; we didn’t just commemorate the Fourth of July for nothing.
Dan Spitzer
East Brunswick