![\"1386832_fi_monterey_shale_ALS\"](\"https:\/\/www.reefrelieffounders.com\/drilling\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/la-me-ln-new-campaign-for-california-oil-extra-001.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nA wireline operator prepares a slick line at an oil pump jack site in the oil fields near Bakersfield. (Al Seib \/ Los Angeles Times \/ March 18, 2013)<\/p>\n
The extraction tax could produce billions of dollars in much-needed revenue for the state, Steyer said.<\/p>\n
“It’s an obvious thing to do,” said Steyer, a billionaire who has been a leading campaigner against the proposed Keystone XL pipeline, designed to carry oil extracted from Canada’s tar sands to refineries along the Gulf Coast.<\/p>\n
Tupper Hull, spokesman for Western States Petroleum Assn., said an industry-supported analysis done two years ago found that oil companies already pay more than $6 billion a year in taxes to state and local governments. Hull said Steer’s assertion that the industry is under-taxed is “erroneous” and that imposing a new extraction tax would result in a decline in oil production in California and the loss of jobs.<\/p>\n
“He supports a lot of policies that, intended or not, will make it harder and more costly to deliver petroleum energy to consumers in California and the rest of the country,” Hull said.<\/p>\n
Rock Zierman, chief executive of the California Independent Petroleum Assn., said a state oil extraction tax could also siphon away tax revenue that oil companies pay to local governments.<\/p>\n
The oil extraction tax proposal is similar to one voters defeated at the ballot box in November 2006.<\/p>\n
Proposition 87 would have imposed an extraction tax and used the revenue generated to fund research and development of alternative fuels. The oil industry spent just over $100 million to defeat the ballot measure. Recent legislative efforts to impose an extraction fee also have failed.<\/p>\n
Steyer and his political committee, NextGen Climate Action, are launching a statewide media campaign to raise awareness about the issue and, hopefully, prompt the state Legislature into action, he said. The organization also will conduct public opinion research.<\/p>\n
Steyer declined to say how much of his own money he expected to spend on the effort. <\/p>\n
http:\/\/www.latimes.com\/local\/lanow\/la-me-ln-new-campaign-for-california-oil-extraction-tax-underway-20131216,0,3099963.story#ixzz2nh6eBIdw<\/p>\n
Special thanks to Richard Charter<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
http:\/\/www.latimes.com\/local\/lanow\/la-me-ln-new-campaign-for-california-oil-extraction-tax-underway-20131216,0,3099963.story By Phil Willon December 16, 2013, 4:04 p.m. San Francisco Bay Area hedge fund manager Tom Steyer on Monday launched a statewide campaign, aimed at prompting action by state lawmakers, to impose a new extraction tax on oil produced in California. Steyer said California imposes only a 14-cent per barrel fee and that, even … Continue reading Los Angeles Times: New campaign for a California oil extraction tax underway<\/span>