Letters, May 28, 1979

Oil and Trouble

To the Editors:

Congratulations for explaining the way the Big Oil Game [May 7] is played. It's easy to blame the companies, but it's also a gross injustice. Only when people understand this incredibly complex situation will they realize the energy crisis is for real, and not a plot of the oil companies. The Federal Government is the worst offender in spreading the myth that big oil companies are ripping off the public.

Leslie Ellis White

Toluca Lake, Calif.

The energy crisis may be real, but the oil companies and the OPEC nations are just ripping off the American consumer. They holler shortage and up goes the price. I realize there is a crisis, but President Carter and the Congress could take action to solve it, instead of sitting up in Washington drawing big salaries for nothing.

Larry G. Bailey

Shelby, Miss.

Writer Chris Byron makes the oil companies sound like a charity group. He justifies their greed by informing us that "surely nobody knows how to find the crude better than oilmen do." Does this justify future windfall profits at the expense of the American public? Business practices, like oil, should be refined, not crude.

Kendall M. Jones

Palo Alto, Calif.

Any windfall profits tax should include deductions for money spent directly on oil exploration and oil development, but nothing else, since the prime purpose of the new decontrol program is to increase America's oil supplies.

Philip J. Schacca

West Hempstead, N. Y.

My only hope is that oil prices continue spiraling higher and even higher, especially in the U.S. Then some Americans might begin to think before they waste (sorry, consume) the earth's liquid gold in their overheated houses and oversized automobiles.

Detlef Hohl

Gauting, West Germany

As one of the "individuals [who] blithely go along wasting fuel," I object to my use of gasoline being termed waste. By whose standard does use become waste?

Dwight Alderson

Sacramento

A more appropriate title for your article would be: "How Big Business practices backfired and shot down the national economy along with the public's trust in Big Business—in two painful steps."

John B. Robinson

Huntington, N. Y.

Underground Heroes

The remarkable efforts of Curtis Sliwa and "the Magnificent 13" [May 7] who volunteer their time and energy to divert subway crime should be commended. I hope I never need them, but I would really like to meet them next time I ride the subways.

Suzanne Chazin

Tenafly, N.J.

I only wish that other groups of young people or adults would start such patrols to discourage the crime that is rampant everywhere. North Little Rock has started patrols by concerned citizens, so all is not lost.

Katherine Etris

Dardanelle, Ark.