Issues with Platts' article
I just read Congressman Platts' Energy article from August 10th. While I'm not opposed to drilling for oil on the OCS I take issue with the Congressman's article.
First, it is extremely disingenuous and partisan politics as usual to ignore 30 years of poor congressional leadership on both sides of the aisle with regard to the energy issue to specifically pick on Speaker Pelosi for adjourning congress at this moment in time. Congress has been blowing since the first time we got a peak of the oil problems to come back in the 70s.
Second, I thought Congressman Platts was a Republican, but now he wants to legislate who can trade in the oil future's market. In this most recent spike in energy prices speculators were only a small part of the froth. The Congressman should realize that the oil future's market is a big boy's market that will clean out speculators on its own. I have no doubt the recent 30 dollar decline significantly hurt the few speculators that were there. He doesn't need to worry about speculators.
Instead, Congressman Platts should be more concern with President Bush's policy of a weak dollar and it's significant contribution to the recent high oil prices. The Bush administration's misguided idea that a weak dollar helps correct our trade imbalance is devastating to our economy and a big reason for the recent spike in oil prices. Even Steve Forbes has publicly rebuked the President for this policy. And yet, Congressman Platts conveniently left this issue out of his article.
Congressman Platts then makes a dangerous mistake cavalierly tossing some figures out on the supply in the OCS, that there are 86 billion barrels. Statistics are like bikinis. What they reveal is interesting, what they conceal is crucial. That goes triple for the oil industry. Without any quantification on where it is and the nature of the supply that number means nothing. There are numerous oil fields in Saudi Arabia where oil exists that just can not be brought out of the ground. Only a person with very little knowledge on the subject would make that mistake.
Paul Pasqualini
Etters
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