Activist Tom Steyer launches California oil tax campaign
December 16, 2013
http://www.sfgate.com/science/article/Activist-Tom-Steyer-launches-California-oil-tax-5069277.php
Environmental activist Tom Steyer, the billionaire Democrat who poured millions of dollars into 2013 campaigns around the country, launched a political drive Monday in his home state to call for an oil extraction tax that he argues will raise billions in revenue for California.
Steyer, in an opinion piece published Monday in The Chronicle, outlined what he said will be an aggressive effort by NextGenClimate Action, his political action committee, to “shine a very bright spotlight on an indefensible corporate tax giveaway that is costing California and its future.”
Compared with Texas
Tupper Hull, vice president of communications for the Western States Petroleum Association, disputed Steyer’s arguments, saying it’s “a myth” that oil companies do not pay their fair share to the state.
Hull said oil companies provide California with a half-billion dollars in tax revenue a year, including property taxes. He added that an analysis of taxes and fees paid by oil companies across the U.S. shows that California ranks “near the top” in its collection of such fees from energy firms.