** FILE ** Oil pumps work the Midway Sunset Oil field west of Taft, Calif., in this Oct. 7, 1997 file photo. If approved, Proposition 87 would tax companies drilling oil in California until it has generated $4 billion for alternative energy programs. The funding would be set aside for loans, grants and subsidies to promote alternative fuels and more energy efficient cars including hybrids. One of the goals of the proposal is to reduce oil dependence in California by 25 percent in the next decade. (AP Photo/Susan Sterner, File)

Letter of the Day: Oil severance tax

Oil severance tax

EDITOR: A fee needs to be assessed on fossil fuels at their point of extraction as a partial offset to the costs to society of releasing greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.

The fee should be viewed not as a source of revenue but as a means of leaving as much of the Monterey Shale Formation oil in the ground as possible by increasing the cost of fossil fuels and making alternative energy sources more competitive.

The fossil-fuel industry need not be vilified for satisfying the energy needs of the economy but rather must be compelled by public policy to transform itself into the clean-energy industry.

The fee collected, increased incrementally over time, should be returned to households in the form of a dividend to compensate for the increased purchase price of energy.

California has an opportunity to be out in front on this issue and to serve as a model for the rest of the country.

TOM WHITE

Santa Rosa

UPDATED: Please read and follow our commenting policy:
  • This is a family newspaper, please use a kind and respectful tone.
  • No profanity, hate speech or personal attacks. No off-topic remarks.
  • No disinformation about current events.
  • We will remove any comments — or commenters — that do not follow this commenting policy.
Send a letter to the editor