2008 Woodie Awards
Help not enough, people still hurting at pump
Karina Sendayen
Issue date: 4/21/08 Section: Opinion
Stephanie Romalho, a 19-year-old student, owns a 1998 Mitsubishi Montero, which she says takes at least $70 to fill up because of rising gas prices.
Romalho, like so many other working college students who must commute to school, are among those who are increasingly turning desperate as gas prices rise.
With the peak of summer approaching, concerns over higher gas prices have heightened due to the trend of increased oil consumption.
Estimated to reach four dollars a gallon this summer, it's a good thing that congress is now taking action to hopefully lower such steep prices and curb the high demand, specifically looking into alternative energy projects.
On April 1, the five biggest U.S. oil companies, whose combined profits equaled $123 billion last year, appeared before congress to explain why they haven't invested more in developing alternative fuels.
So far, four of the five oil companies - Shell, BP America, Conoco-Phillips and Chevron - have invested a total of $3.5 billion on renewable fuel projects in recent years.
Exxon Mobil has given $100 million to the Global Climate and Energy Project at Stanford University to be given over the span of 10 years starting in 2002. However, Exxon Mobil profited $40.6 billion last year alone, the largest earnings reported by any U.S. company that year.
So why the limited contributions?
According to Exxon Mobil Senior Vice President J.S. Simon, the company has considered different methods of utilizing alternative energy sources but was unsatisfied with their potential. "The current technology does not have any appreciable impact on this challenge," he said.
There are some members of congress who feel that the oil companies should be doing more. Representative Edward Markey (D-Mass.) proposed a plan that would have the oil companies invest 10 percent of their profits over a period of 10 years, as well as giving up $18 billion in tax breaks to aid in renewable energy development.
Romalho, like so many other working college students who must commute to school, are among those who are increasingly turning desperate as gas prices rise.
With the peak of summer approaching, concerns over higher gas prices have heightened due to the trend of increased oil consumption.
Estimated to reach four dollars a gallon this summer, it's a good thing that congress is now taking action to hopefully lower such steep prices and curb the high demand, specifically looking into alternative energy projects.
On April 1, the five biggest U.S. oil companies, whose combined profits equaled $123 billion last year, appeared before congress to explain why they haven't invested more in developing alternative fuels.
So far, four of the five oil companies - Shell, BP America, Conoco-Phillips and Chevron - have invested a total of $3.5 billion on renewable fuel projects in recent years.
Exxon Mobil has given $100 million to the Global Climate and Energy Project at Stanford University to be given over the span of 10 years starting in 2002. However, Exxon Mobil profited $40.6 billion last year alone, the largest earnings reported by any U.S. company that year.
So why the limited contributions?
According to Exxon Mobil Senior Vice President J.S. Simon, the company has considered different methods of utilizing alternative energy sources but was unsatisfied with their potential. "The current technology does not have any appreciable impact on this challenge," he said.
There are some members of congress who feel that the oil companies should be doing more. Representative Edward Markey (D-Mass.) proposed a plan that would have the oil companies invest 10 percent of their profits over a period of 10 years, as well as giving up $18 billion in tax breaks to aid in renewable energy development.
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