Big Oil’s profits behind high price of gas, not Democrats

I was surprised by a recent letter to the editor questioning why The Herald would endorse Sen. Patty Murray for another term when she was supposedly responsible for $5 per gallon gas prices. If you follow the news you know that from July to September of this year Valero made a profit of $2.82 billion, up 500 percent. Exxon had a profit of almost $20 billion, a record for any quarter. And Shell made $9.5 billion in profits, more than twice what it made in the third quarter of last year.

That’s why the House Democrats passed a bill to hold Big Oil companies responsible for the price gouging that is ripping off customers. The bill is being blocked in the Senate by the Republicans. Hopefully, re-electing Sen. Murray will help them to pass the bill and hold Big Oil responsible for this unconscionable attack on consumers.

Hal Malarek

Edmonds