[In response to Bruce Hetrick’s June 14 column] Those that are calling for more government involvement in response to the BP oil spill are not those who typically call for “less government.”

Sure, less government may just mean “lower taxes” for some. But to the majority of us “less government” folks, it means we acknowledge the limited abilities of the government. Just as they don’t have the ability to drill for oil, they also have no ability to clean up oil. In this case, the government should be left to its best, and most appropriate role—the ability to levy fines against BP. And yes, I do believe that any company that dumps as much oil as BP has into the Gulf should pay, and pay and pay (I can’t imagine you would find anyone who would disagree with that).

If you want to try and write an article that successfully makes the point of “You can’t have it both ways” (which I think was the point of your article), maybe you could write one about how environmentalists caused this disaster.

By not allowing oil companies access to shallower water, they have been forced into drilling for oil 5,000 feet below the water. Had they been in shallower water, this disaster could have been averted, or stopped much quicker. I will assume you probably won’t write that one. 

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Carl Spackler