While You Weren't Looking:

Now that all eyes are turned on the world-wide whirlpool that we call the economy, the major oil companies can suck the life out the table scraps.

The other night I had PBS on when an Exxon Mobil ad—yes, I know PBS doesn't have advertising, it has sponsors who get to talk about themselves—proclaimed that it was doing everything in its power to provide cheap and clean energy for the American economy during these difficult times.

What! This right after the news that the reason gasoline prices have jumped by some 30 percent is the direct result of the oil companies' cutting back on production to artificially push their already record breaking profits even higher? And don't forget this is the same company that spent millions of dollars to promote lies about global warming.

If we weren't all so panicked about the rest of the economy, we'd be screaming over this abuse. Exxon Mobil and its sisters know we're not going to demand that our federal representatives press the companies to stop their vampire-like activities because we're too busy worrying about whether we'll have a job or health care in the coming weeks.

If you're one of those people who think the environment benefits by higher energy prices, surely it would be better if those higher prices were the result of increased taxes rather than outrageous profits going to a company that has done everything within its power to undermine your environmental concerns.