To the editor,
So, who is the culprit in the absolute gouging going on in our energy costs? The finger-pointing is at an all-time high.
Some say the bad guy is the governments accounting for about one-third of gas cost. Some say it’s the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the Western embargo on Russian oil. Some say it is corporate oil greed as the root cause of our pump pain.
Let’s examine these views logically.
As of May 31, 2022, crude oil is at about $115 per barrel, while back in 2010, it was about $140 to $155 per barrel. Government taxes have remained the same from that time period to today, yet gas prices were half of what they are today (208.9 per litre).
One can logically conclude the real culprit is the already-subsidized petro giants.
So, those who claim that dropping the government tax as the best way to help people would only present a further opportunity for big corporate oil to increase its profits. We already know that some of the government fuel tax is used to support programs that benefit the majority of people.
It is also noted that those groups or governments that advocate dropping the government taxes are also closely associated with big corporate oil. Could these same groups or governments be looking for an excuse to cut people programs, blaming it on lack of revenue? Masterful circular reasoning, eh what!
There are obviously different agendas at play here and the course we follow will be a political rather than practical decision determined in a general election.
Wes Morden,
Blackpool, B.C.
newsroom@clearwatertimes.com
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