Dear Editor:
Do you ever wonder why some people rage about the profits of "Big Oil," but not the profits of other industries or the government? A little research shows their true motive is probably not oil company profits, but their own. Oil profits may seem huge, but the big dollar figures come from how much they sell, not how much they earn per gallon.
According to an April 2011 article on CNN Money's website, the largest U.S. oil companies earned a profit of about 7 cents per gallon. On that same gallon, the government took more than 40 cents in taxes. That means the government had over 570 percent more "profit" than the oil companies. Why don't we ever hear these people raging about that?
If outrage at huge profits was the real motive, wouldn't you think they'd also be upset with other industries whose prices per gallon are much higher than gasoline? Some bottled drinking water costs over $10/gallon. Chocolate syrup is $13/gallon, shampoo $37/gallon, cough medicine $110/gallon, nail polish $893/gallon, perfume $25,600/gallon, etc. Since these are not sold by the gallon, their higher costs are less obvious. The profit margins on these tend to be higher too, because the cost to produce them is much less. Perfume profit margins can exceed 90 percent.
So why attack "Big Oil," but not "Big Perfume" or "Big Syrup?" To understand why, "Think Green!" Demonizing oil fits into the green energy agenda, which many people are using to get rich. Here's how it works.
When green energy supporters enact regulations limiting oil and gas drilling, coal production, and new pipelines, they restrict supplies and artificially drive up those prices. This benefits the green energy companies they invest in by making their products more price-competitive. To tilt the advantage even more toward their favorite green energy companies, they give them subsidies and low-interest loans. For those of you thinking oil companies get subsidies too, realize that they don't actually get direct money handouts. They simply get the same tax deductions for business expenses that other companies get, despite how the media abuses the term "subsidies".
Investors love it when they can accurately predict winners and losers in the market. It's really easy for green energy investors to pick the winners and make money when they have friends who can demonize and punish their competitors while giving their favored companies direct payments with money taken from taxpayers.
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