Hearing the oil companies complain about paying more in taxes is getting old. Suck it up, buttercup. Everybody else in Alaska is paying more, so why should they be any different? Students and their parents are routinely hit with higher tuition fees and reduced classes at the University of Alaska Anchorage. Property owners are hit with higher property taxes to cover various bonds passed for municipal services. Non-profit organizations deal with reductions in funding from the state and have to cut services. School districts throughout the state have had their budgets slashed.
The money the oil companies have spent on TV and radio ads alone just shows their wealth. Besides, they have never come close to paying what other states and countries charge in royalties and production taxes. A quote in the ADN from a Robin Brena op-ed states, “since SB 21, we have paid producers more to produce our oil in paid credits than they paid in production taxes. While major international oil producers have made billions from our oil since SB 21, Alaska has suffered."
And then there’s the issue of what harm petroleum production and consumption has done to the environment. Climate change is threatening our way of life. We need a responsible Legislature to show some guts and deal with the elephant in the room.
John Stolpman
Anchorage
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