Get used to gas prices topping $4
Regarding your column, "Filling up but going nowhere," (Consumer Confidential, July 16), the really sad part is now that consumers are used to paying over $4 a gallon for gas, the price of gasoline will probably never go lower. If somehow, something better fuel-wise comes along, and no one demands gasoline, the price will be about the same.
Buy a roll of 35-mm Kodak or Fuji film for a camera. The price is about the same as it was before digital cameras became popular.
I haven't seen or heard of long lines at the gas pump. So either the price of gas has lowered demand or the supply is still plentiful.
Mike Cogliandro
San Antonio, Texas
Who cares what gas costs abroad?
Why do reporters and newscasters report how well off we are in the U.S. when it comes to filling up our gas tanks? ("In U.S., gas is cheap, relatively speaking," Over a Barrel, July 10.)
Why do we care what they pay, or how does that impact me when I'm filling up my tank? Is that suppose to make me feel good? Tell that to the independent truck drivers who say they'll be bankrupt at the end of the year.
Kitty O'Hare
Slatington, Pa.
The map and graph accompanying the "Over the Barrel" story should serve as a 2-by-4 to the heads of your readers. Americans remain in denial about crude oil production and consumption.
It would be nice for one honest politician to tell Americans that the era of cheap energy is over. Maybe then, like other addicts, we could enter rehabilitation before it is too late.
Gary Peters
Paso Robles
Consumers win in this competition
The entire July 13 Consumer Confidential column, "It’s boiling down to cable vs. telecom," is based on a skewed view of competition. Where it sees only a clash between the telecom and cable industries, the competitive landscape is much more diverse.
Not only are telephone and cable companies competing head-to-head for voice, data and video customers, they are also competing with wireless, voice over Internet protocol, competitive local carriers and satellite providers. The competitors are likely to increase with the emergence of new technologies, such as WiMax. And, despite what the column says, that's the kind of competition that benefits consumers.
Bill Kula, Director,
Media Relations
Verizon Communications
Inc., Irvine
