Letter: Big Oil hurts taxpayers

I wish someone would please tell me what planet Wayne Ledbetter lives on.

His last letter to the editor about oil companies couldn’t possibly have come from Mother Earth.
I would never begrudge any company from doing well and making large profits — every business owner dreams of that kind of success. What Mr. Ledbetter left out was the fact that we, the taxpayers (sometimes referred to as the US government) subsidize American oil companies with billions of our tax dollars.

It doesn’t always come in the form of actual money given; it oftentimes is in the form of reduced or no-cost supplies, exemption from liability (i.e. from lawsuits for spills and destruction) or being placed in a tax bracket that most businesses can only dream about. If those gifts that ultimately come out of our pockets were not there, I would not have a problem with the huge profits.

Secondly, how many low- to middle-class taxpayers can afford to buy oil company stock? A large chunk of my family’s income has to be spent paying high gas prices while driving 50 or more miles (times two) round trip to work each day. My annual cost of living raise can’t touch gas price inflation.

Besides, only a small percentage of Americans can afford a decent retirement plan. Many struggle just to put food on the table or to pay medical bills.

Only the rich are getting richer off the oil companies.

Finally, when it comes to preserving the owls the trees and the wildlife, I would much rather that my children and grandchildren be able to look around and see trees and birds and wildlife than to see oil wells dotting the countryside, black goo filling our waterways and smog so thick that you can’t even see your neighbor.

Maybe that’s okay for Wayne’s planet, but not mine.

Bob Barber
Hiddenite