Letter: More beneath the surface of oil issue

Wednesday, Jan. 4, 2006 | 8:45 a.m.

Regarding the ongoing debate on drilling for oil in Alaska, I feel that the argument over whether or not the wild animals will be affected is just a smoke screen for a bigger issue. Most of us belong to a huge majority who have almost been beaten to death by the oil industry with its unfair price gouging.

From what I have read, the oil companies feel that the cost of drilling in Alaska is so prohibitive that they probably would lose money in the venture. So, guess what? Enter the Bush administration with requests for Congress to pass laws that would subsidize the oil companies for their expenses of drilling in Alaska.

Yes, the same oil companies who have clobbered us at the gas pumps.

What kind of punishment is that? Perhaps the bottom line is that the ouput from those Alaskan resources may never reach the American motorists, but be shipped off to Japan and other foreign ports. I have a feeling that the large corporations in America, along with the present administration, do not want the public to know more than they report to us, but the media have done their finest job ever in the history of our nation to bring truth to those of us who still respect a level playing field.

Ken Anderson

Las Vegas