To: The California State House, The California State Senate, and Governor Gavin Newsom
Stop letting oil companies get free oil from California
We are sick of oil companies that pay no extraction tax for drilling in our state. Other oil-producing states, such as Alaska and Texas, impose taxes between 10% and 28% on the value of oil extracted within their borders, and it's not like the oil companies sell us cheaper gas in appreciation for all that free oil they get here. We don't think that Californians should continue to give up our non-renewable resources without at least getting a piece of the profits.
Why is this important?
California is the only place in the world where oil companies can come, drill, and extract oil without paying a dime in royalties. But that oil is our inheritance, and if we're not leaving it for our children, we should at least be using it to help build a better future for them. After all the cuts to services we've had to endure, this is an obvious way to add revenue to the treasury, and it hits an industry that has no need for special tax treatment, nor moral argument for it.