Executives from Chevron and four other Big Oil corporations met with Congress yesterday to defend their record breaking profits of during this time of economic turbulence. The executives argued that the painful costs at the pump aren't their fault (instead blaming rising costs on the rapid development in India and China and the weak American dollar) stating that their profits are in line with other industries.
However, according to the San Fransisco Chronicle, "the five biggest oil companies made $123.3 billion last year, the five biggest pharmaceutical companies earned $48.2billion and the top five defense contractors earned $15.5 billion." Does it really seem like Big Oil's profits are in line with other industries?
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2008/04/02/MNU7VU217.DTL
In a time of economic hardship for the average American, and with analysts predicting oil to reach $4 per gallon before the summer driving season, I sincerely doubt that the public is going to believe that Big Oil has the consumer in mind at all. I agree with Congress Representative, John Larson, when he said that the "whole situation has been nothing more than manipulation around greed."
Congress challenged the industry giants to commit a fraction of their enormous profits to funding research and development of oil alternatives. The answer came back that this wasn't an endeavor they wanted to pursue until renewable energy was a more economically competitive market.
The small glimmer of hope in this situation was the praise Chevron received from the lawmakers about the money they have invested in geothermal energy. Until more of the sky high profits are spent on lessening our dependency on oil, instead of padding current stock prices to increase the gain for Big Oil investors, the geothermal pursuits will not be enough.
Below is a current television ad being run by Chevron. Do you think that the ad is accurate according to their current stand on the pursuit of renewable energy resources? Should their minimal investment (when compared to the staggering profits) really be something to brag about?
From an advertising standpoint the Human Energy ad is impressive, but I have to wonder how much is truly Chevron and how much of what the ad says is just what they think the public wants to hear.
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5 comments:
That ad was cool but it doesn't seem real. With all the problems they seem to be causing its odd that they say they are part of the solution. And it doesn't seem like there really is a solution. Oil prices just keep going up. Nothing is really getting better.
I agree with you. Maybe I am a skeptic but I find it hard to believe that a company as big as any one of these oil companies are really doing anything to make the situation better (whether that means investing money in renewable energy alternatives or lowering oil prices for their customers). It is greedy... but isn't that the basis of this great country or ours? The big oil companies adamantly don't want the government telling them what to invest their profits in, but I believe if the tides changed they would surely want the government to bail them out of hardship.
This may sound radical but if you want to fight money with money we should rethink our use of oil. If we found ways to travel using the least amount of gas or none at all that would be the most powerful message we could sent to them. OUr increased use of gas makes us dependant on these companies to provide gas and because we are so dependant the public usually pays the huge price of gas. I do not own a car and ride the bus almost everyday and try to love near where I work. I love that I don't have a car payment, car insurance payment or pay for gas. Plus I'm getting in shape with lots of walking!
I am annoyed to read that the 5 biggest oil companies raked in that much money! The difference compared to the other companies is huge! I find it hard to believe that "everyone" is taking a hit from this, when you know that those running the oil industries are doing just fine. They will always be able to afford their finer things and such, while we cut out our small luxeries, like clothes and food, just to make it to work everyday paying 4 bucks for gas! It's sad to hear about all these airlines going under because of the oil prices. Think about all those families who are out of jobs now, because of it.
I probably stated this in earlier posts but I don't buy their PR campaign to try to convince me that Big Oil is part of the solution. By the nature of their business, renewable energy is the archenemy of oil which is a finite energy source. It's like seeing a pizza company promote health foods that are organic, low in calories, sugars and fat. It simply does not make sense. The burden of developing renewable energy falls into government leaders and entrepeneurs that don't care if big oil reports a $100 billion loss every quarter until it files banruptcy. Just like health foods drive away pizza profit.
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