Letters to the Editor: Shame on the oil industry for exploiting Latinos’ economic anxieties

To the editor: I am dismayed by the Western States Petroleum Assn.’s media campaign targeting Latinos and telling them the move toward electrification, notably electric vehicles, will harm them economically. As your editorial and the accompanying opinion piece by Tony Barboza state, the Latino community is hard hit by the negative health and environmental impacts of fossil fuel pollution.

The oil industry has lied about climate change and pollution for decades. It should be doing everything in its power to help with the transition to clean energy in transportation. So, why not take the money it is spending on disinformation campaigns and put it toward subsidizing the cost of electric vehicles for Latinos?

As the planet endures its hottest year on record, the oil companies should do something positive to ensure the health of our planet for future generations. I encourage everyone to write to the WSPA and voice their opposition to this campaign.

Karen Feeney, Lafayette, Calif.

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To the editor: The petroleum industry is not filled with angels. Nevertheless, the truth lies somewhere in the middle on the hardships that will be imposed on Latinos and others by California’s mandated electrification.

Your editorial and Barboza’s accompanying personal note were filled with anecdotal comments from interviewed Latinos who generically support electrification. I got the sense that some interviewees did not want to appear closed to protecting the environment.

However, no attempt was made to quantify or ask about the financial hardship of transitioning. Instead, the focus was the evilness of the WSPA and its ostensible exploitation of Latinos’ economic anxieties.

You should ask Latinos about those anxieties.

William Goldman, Los Angeles

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To the editor: I almost feel sorry for the WSPA as it promotes a dying and deadly industry.

Unaffected by oil spills or gas leaks, solar and wind farms don’t inflict wildly fluctuating prices subject to world events or the whims of oil-producing countries. That’s why, in 2019, the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power was able to sign a contract to receive solar power with battery storage at 3.3 cents per kilowatt-hour, guaranteed for 25 years.

A Harvard study published two years ago found that fossil fuel pollution was responsible for 1 in 5 deaths worldwide in 2018. Asthma, heart disease and other illnesses linked to fossil fuels result in lost work and school days and add to the healthcare expenses we all pay.

We are we still paying subsidies to oil companies making record profits.

I haven’t even mentioned climate change.

Tom Hazelleaf, Seal Beach