Letter to SacBee

I beg to differ with a recent claim made by one of your readers that the oil industry is not subsidized. Aside from the fact that California is one of the only states in the country that does not have an oil severance tax in place, a much larger subsidy has been taking place since fossil fuel became the energy choice of this country over a hundred years ago. All of the byproducts created from combustion of fossil fuels including but not limited to toxic air and water pollution, mercury poisoning of fish, ocean acidification, climate change, extinction of marine and mammal species, increased lung cancer, heart disease and asthma rates to name a few all represent external costs not included in the production of fossil fuel. Transferring these costs from producer to the public represents a massive subsidy of the fossil fuel industry. This convenient and profitable arrangement has allowed the oil companies to profit immensely at our expense. The only way to slow down this gravy train is to attach a cost to carbon in the form of a revenue neutral carbon tax.