Letters to the editor for Thursday, Oct. 10, 2013

Helium shortfall just a ploy to increase profits

Helium is a naturally occurring gas that can be processed and compressed in quantity. It is used in a wide array of industries as a necessary component of their manufacture or service. This resource has for decades been in ample supply, and anyone with need could purchase it. Now it is reported in short supply and difficult to come by — as if a controlled substance. You may ask: why?

Until recently, the federal government held stock piles or in some other way stabilized the supply. When they relinquished this, control reverted to the energy giant Chevron, who is the world’s largest provider of this commodity. They, as is their nature, have manipulated a shortfall to drive up prices and increase profits. What is not widely known is that helium is a crucial element in future clean energy. Specific combinations of gases can be compressed and ignited to produce physical energy. This cycle is repeatable a vast number of times without exhaust or depletion. But no combination of gases is viable without helium.

I admit to knowing about this shortfall for at least a year. The news is just going wide now because they know it is too late to do anything about it. It is speculated these new generation engines could begin to reach us in as few as six years, and they want us to know who is holding all the cards. Whatever they ask is what we’ll have to pay. They own it all again.

Kelly Jones

Carson City

Time to reach a deal

When will Boehner stop holding our country hostage with his racist political grandstanding? He needs to remember, we do not negotiate with terrorists.

Robin Christy

Carson City