‘Flirting With Energy Chaos’

I am in complete concurrence with the editorial. As you pointed out, this would not only raise a very substantial sum of revenue to help balance the federal budget, but would also have the effect of cutting down on the gasoline consumption now used for non-essential driving, with a resulting decline in our need for imported crude oil.

I would urge, in addition to the 25-cent tax, that a flexible import duty be placed on crude oil, adjusted from time to time as needed to stabilize the price to the U.S. purchaser at somewhere between say $18-$20 per barrel.

This action would accomplish three beneficial results: 1) It would stabilize the economy of the oil industry (and of the nation) at a level that would encourage the exploration and production of domestic oil, restoring many jobs that have been lost in these fields. 2) It would, by increasing domestic production of crude, decrease our dependence on foreign crude which could be a critical factor in time of international conflict. 3) The decrease in foreign oil imports would have a substantial positive effect on our currently disastrous negative trade balance.

Further, the effect of an increase in the price of crude oil would encourage industry to use other domestic energy sources, such as coal and nuclear energy for power generation. Currently, proven technology is available for the gasification of coal for electric power generation on a clean-air basis and is now being practiced by Southern California Edison at the Coolwater Plant near Barstow.

The U.S. has sufficient coal for all of our energy needs for several hundred years. Then, too, methanol from coal can be used as a clean substitute for gasoline, further reducing our need for crude oil. Nuclear power has the advantage of not producing as much carbon dioxide as do conventional means of power generation, thus reducing the “greenhouse effect” that is currently worrying environmentalists.

I believe strongly that your suggestion of a 25 cent federal tax on gasoline plus the flexible import duty on crude oil will be of great benefit to our country.

ROLAND A. BECK

Whittier