Friday, May. 16, 2008

Right idea, but wrong reasoning

Regarding "Free-market fails; nationalize oil," (May 2, Letters): The author seems to think that if oil companies were nationalized, this would translate into lower prices at the pump. Nothing is further from the truth.

Our dollar is still tanking, which is why oil jumped so quickly, though diminishing supplies is also a big factor. We'd still have to buy it from people who hate us and are pricing it in euros.

When oil was $12 a barrel, we were paying a $1.50 for gas. Now, oil is 10 times that, so we ought to be paying $15 a gallon. Yet, we're still paying less than $4. The question is: Why are oil companies holding back? Probably because their profits have always been so obscene that they don't want to risk the kind of public outcry that could result in nationalization.

We should nationalize oil. We also should end all foreign wars and occupations. Then we'd have plenty of money to do a Manhattan Project for energy that would expand rail service, put solar panels on everything that doesn't move and put fluorescent bulbs in every building. This would free us from our dependence on foreign oil and our need for wars of conquest.

CHARLES MORRISON

Modesto