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The Tampa Tribune

Published: November 17, 2007

Allow Gulf Drilling

Sen. Bill Nelson and his "no drilling" cohorts should be proud of themselves. They have succeeded in sending gas prices over $3 a gallon and no end in sight. Of course, they can afford it. Most can't.

The effect of this insistence on no drilling is just being felt. The worst is yet to come. The entire economy from one end to the other is going to be seriously affected - food, heating, manufacturing, transportation, etc.

China and Cuba won't mind drilling and angle drilling will help steal our oil. They'll laugh at us as they use and sell our oil.

NORMAN ELZEER

Largo

Far-Reaching Impact

With crude oil futures hovering around $95 a barrel and gasoline soaring past $3 a gallon, it's time for Congress to step in and regulate the futures market.

It is apparent that demand is not driving a $30 a barrel increase over three months, nor is it due to a decrease in available supply. Actually, in October Saudi Arabia announced a 500,000-barrel-a-day increase in production, while at the same time vowing to meet any supply necessities.

Decreased buying power of the U.S. dollar is to blame in part for the increase, but only a small part. Since energy costs are playing a higher and higher percentage in the monthly budgets of the average American, something else in the budget will suffer. Be it small restaurants or mom and pop stores or even larger chain store companies, they will feel the bite first. Followed by individuals not able to afford gas for work or heating fuel for their homes, medical care or insurance to protect their families.

Rising fuel costs will impact every item you buy and everything you do.

MARIO J. MINICHINO

Riverview

It's Supply And Demand

Regarding "Sources Of Oil" (Letters, Nov. 5):

This letter was so full of inaccuracies I felt the need to correct them.

First, the United States supplies about half of its daily use of oil. We import the remaining half, mainly from "unstable areas" like Canada and Mexico. And though we do import some oil from Venezuela, which some would contest is "unstable," less than 10 percent of our imported oil comes from the Middle East, and most of the Middle Eastern oil we do import comes from Saudi Arabia.Most oil exported out of the Middle East goes to Europe and Asia.

Second, oil is a commodity. It doesn't matter where the oil comes from; the price is dictated by supply and demand. And the biggest impact on oil prices in the last 20 years is the emergence of China as an industrial powerhouse. They are consuming oil at a rate that is rivaled only by us.

Lastly, it is correct to say we haven't built new refineries in the last 30 years. But the number of refineries isn't as important as the capacity of those refineries.

MICHAEL ALLEN

Lutz

Index Minimum Wage

The news: oil to rise to $100 a barrel. Then what follows is that will affect prices all along the line, because the use of fuel affects everything. Who will suffer the most? Those working for minimum pay. I know. I was there when the minimum wage was instituted during the 1930s.

It was 35 cents an hour and a 40-hour week was to be the norm. So I got married on $14 a week. Rent was one-fourth my pay. Bread was a nickel. We squeezed by. It's not that easy today.

The solution: Tie the minimum wage to the cost of living on a weekly basis. For wages it isn't minimum wage, it's the bottom wage.

HARTLEY STEEVES

Tampa

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