The crazy folks in California (where I live) have a voter initiative (Proposition 87) on the ballot this election that would raise taxes on oil from California, and use the money raised to fund a slew of unspecified, politically-controlled energy initiatives. If there was ever a recipe for wasting billions of dollars, this would be it.
The Wall Street Journal’s commentary page chimed in on this subject today, in their inimitable fashion. Some excerpts:
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The jewel in this liberal crown is Proposition 87, which would raise taxes on oil extracted from California by 1.5% to 6%, depending on the price per barrel — all in the name of reducing energy consumption and dependency on foreign oil. Let us run that by you again: The idea here is to tax California oil in order to get Californians to use less Saudi oil. Brilliant.
If approved, the law would raise costs on California’s oil producers by as much as $4 billion over the next 10 years. California would overnight become the state with the highest tax on oil producers in the U.S. — which makes as much sense as Vermont levying the highest tax on maple syrup. Not one penny, by the way, would go to close Sacramento’s enormous government debt burden — which may rise by another $40 billion if the multitude of bond initiatives for new public spending are also approved by voters this November.
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Former President Bill Clinton is starring in a pro-87 TV ad that began running last week. Al Gore is raising money for the initiative, alongside Hollywood economists Geena Davis and Julia Roberts. Its main financial supporter is Hollywood producer Stephen Bing, who is also rich enough not to care about any increase in energy prices; his $40 million contribution is believed to be the largest individual donation to a ballot initiative in history. One co-chairman of the initiative, Vinod Khosla, a venture capitalist, has contributed $1 million to the campaign. Mr. Khosla happens to own an ethanol plant outside of Fresno — just the operation that, who knows, might be eligible for funding from this new energy welfare fund.
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Love that bit about the Hollywood economists…
The latest polls have likely voters supporting Proposition 87, 48% to 38%, with 14% undecided.
If Julia Roberts supported a proposition to require all California residents to whack themselves in the head with a sledgehammer every morning, I’ll bet it would pass…
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