Vote YES on Prop 87

To continue my support of certain ballot initiatives up for voting in 2 days, I strongly urge everyone to vote yes on Prop 87.
Prop 87 institutes a tax that oil companies must pay on the oil that they extract from the California ground and coastal waters. The 4 billion dollars generated from this will fund a variety of alternative energy programs, thereby increasing the efficiency and production of solar, wind, and biofuels that will decrease our dependence on fossil fuels and foreign oil. Oil companies have spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to stop Prop 87, yet they already pay the very same taxes in other oil producing states like Alaska and Texas. We Californians have been giving oil companies a free ride for years, allowing them to devastate our lands and oceans to pull out precious natural resources for nothing. Will the price of gas go up? Not much - this tax will barely affect the oil companies, plus most of the worldwide oil pricing is set by OPEC, the largely middle-eastern oil cartel. The price of gasoline here is amazingly cheap compared to the whole of Europe and every other civilized country. We pay for this cheap gas with political deals, power plays, and yes, whether you want to believe it or not, the war in Iraq. Prices should be higher and the money needs to go towards finding solutions for stopping global warming and finding new, cleaner ways to power our homes, our vehicles, our schools and hospitals without leaving a legacy of environmental devastation for our children and grandchildren.
We desparately need our government to invest money in alternative energy resource and development, and making oil companies pay taxes on what they take from our land is a great start.
Vote Yes on Prop 86!
Sincerely,
Clint Slaughter, M.D.