Letters

US Energy Sec. Bill Richardson doesn't get it.

His boss, Bill Clinton, has sent him off to the Persian Gulf to ask OPEC-and Saudi Arabia in particular-to increase oil production so that Clinton's northeastern neighbors, and potential Democratic voters, don't have to pay higher heating oil prices.

Did Sec. Richardson do anything a year and a half ago to help the domestic oil and gas industry when crude prices were plunging to below $10/bbl? Did he go to Saudi Arabia then and ask them to curtail production so that oil prices could rise and prevent the loss of thousands of jobs and eventually the lowest rig count in decades? No, he didn't, because he and his boss don't get it.

Now these two are considering taking oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) so that heating oil in the northeast will be more affordable. You all remember the SPR. It was initiated after the Arab oil embargo so that the US would not have to be dependent on Arab oil in case of a national emergency, i.e., a war involving the US.

Well guess what? It's 30 years later and the US is in the midst of another Arab oil embargo. Granted, it is a little more subtle this time, but make no mistake, it is an embargo nonetheless. The only problem is the US did nothing in 30 years to prepare for such an occurrence. Instead of paying domestic oil producers a fair price ($20/bbl) for their product and storing it in times of oversupply, the US imported cheap, foreign oil and charged no tariff, thus driving down the price of oil and decimating an entire domestic oil and gas industry.

The US now imports more than 60% of the oil it needs every day. That number is not going down. A clear, concise, and effective energy policy is needed in this country and time is running out. If Sec. Richardson thinks $30/bbl is too much to pay for oil, then he should also consider that $10/bbl is too little.

A national energy policy that sets realistic standards for a precious commodity is sorely needed. This policy should include paying domestic producers a fair price for their product no matter what OPEC decides to do. And speaking of OPEC, they must really be amused by all of the fuss in the US about oil prices. After all, it was only a year ago when the oil companies were asking them to stop producing so much because the price was too low. Now, here we are a year later asking them to open the tap because prices are too high.