Big Oil’s performance shows we’re all hostages
An editorial from the The Virginian-Pilot (Norfolk, VA) as reprinted in The News Sentinel (Fort Wayne, IN):
Nov. 17 – They feign outrage in front of their outraged constituents, but America’s senators appear to be about the only folks who believe this summer’s gas price spike wasn’t mostly a get-rich quick scheme for the oil industry.
Dragged before Congress this month just as gas prices were starting to tumble under $2 a gallon, the nation’s top oilmen claimed that there’s no connection between falling prices — down from more than $3 a gallon — and their embarrassing record profits and huge bonuses.
Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain, or his wallet, they told the senators; gas prices are falling now because “The Market” says so. Plus, Big Oil’s profits are in line with any other American industry, a logic that frays if you recognize it is entirely unlike any other American industry.
