Concern over rising gas, home oil prices

Thank you for your thorough and informative article explaining the price of gas ["Why we pay and pay," News, April 25]. To summarize what the experts said: The current high price of gas can be explained as one-third the weakness of the dollar, one-third supply-and-demand forces, and one-third a premium for market uncertainty.

Currently, the Federal Reserve is pursuing a weaker dollar as a policy goal. The Obama administration refuses to permit development of domestic reserves, which both keeps supply from the market, and adds immeasurably to market uncertainty.

It seems that, as Pogo said, "We have met the enemy, and he is us."

Jim Van Schaick

Baldwin
 

The American public must face the fact that our vulnerability to foreign oil cannot be questioned. Although there is much blame being dispensed as to who is responsible for our crisis, our dependence on this precious liquid is excessive.

Little has changed to lessen the grip of foreign oil since the Arab embargo of the 1970s. As we search for a scapegoat for our painful dilemma, we must ask ourselves why Detroit enticed us with dinosaur-sized SUVs and trucks while the government stood in the shadows offering little intervention to loosen the grip that oil exporting countries have on our back pocket.

Had more stringent requirements been enacted to produce more economical vehicles over the decades, our economy would not be manipulated by foreign demands and the whim of commodity speculators looking for a safe haven from the declining value of the American dollar.

Jason E. Hill

Ridge
 

While your piece on rising gases prices touched on many aspects of the high costs, it failed to mention the straw that's stirring the drink, President Barack Obama.

His plan to investigate the speculators is nothing more than a smoke screen, and yet another attack by this administration on capitalism and the free markets. Speculators in large measure react to U.S. policy.

The good news is that speculation works both ways. If Obama ever announced that he was going to advocate for substantially increased domestic drilling and refining capacity, prices would nosedive.

Mike Quadrino

Smithtown
 

While everyone is bemoaning the price of a gallon of gasoline, those of us on Long Island who heat with oil are facing more than an energy crisis. We are facing an energy nightmare.

Going into a gas station, I have a choice of how much or how little I will put into my tank. I can also control how much traveling I choose to do in a day, a week or a month.

Many of us have cut back severely on our travel and are managing our gasoline consumption. However, that is not as simple with home heating oil. We have no alternatives.

Bringing a gas line to my home would cost around $15,000, plus the cost of installing a new heating system at around $6,000. A solar hot water system costs about $10,000, and a solar electric system costs about $40,000.

What has this country come to, allowing speculators and fear to control the price of oil and our existence? There is an ample supply of oil, even with all of the unrest in the Middle East.

Frances Sklaroff

Old Bethpage