Editorial gets high mileage

Re “Gas fuming,” editorial, May 25

This editorial sorely lacked The Times’ consistent, cogent reasoning. Absent from this indictment of motorists’ driving habits pushing up the price at the pump was the extraordinary profits oil companies are enjoying. Not unlike the tobacco industry, both car manufacturers and oil companies have successfully made American consumers into “gas junkies.” The problem of high petroleum prices is certainly solvable as soon as the profits of the oil companies are invested in energy alternatives instead of put in the pockets of management and shareholders.

RICHARD FELDMAN

Los Angeles

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What a relief that such truths are being published for the benefit of those who are frustrated by nothing more than their own ignorance. As a mechanical engineer for 23 years, I have learned from countless experiences that the selling price of anything that can be sold is dictated by just three simple words: supply and demand. There are no conspiracies, no secret meetings, no cults formed by oil company executives trying to keep prices high. If you want the price of something to go down, then you have to stop using it. If you want to stop using it, then you have to use something else.

ARTHUR SAGINIAN

Saugus