Disappeared News: A tax on oil should be a good thing, right? Not if done this way, which makes things worse

Wednesday, February 17, 2010

A tax on oil should be a good thing, right? Not if done this way, which makes things worse

by Larry Geller

HB2421 (or follow on Twitter) will be heard tomorrow (Thursday) by FIN (House Finance Committee) at 4:00 p.m. in room 308. The bill would put a tax on oil to discourage its use. So oil gets more expensive and we have to turn to other things. What can be bad about that?

Plenty, actually. The devil is in the details. This bill badly needs fixing. For one thing, it will encourage the use of coal and tropical biofuels. Those are the ones that result in clearcutting forests and make climate change worse, not better.

If this bill passes, you will be paying a new tax to make things worse!

I’ve also questioned whether the proposed interisland power cable makes sense. Oahu can generate all its own power, and Murdock, on Lanai, can find another way to make more millions. Oahu could make electricity from waves, wind, OTEC (Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion), or lots of other ways. The interisland cable is in this bill.

As usual, Henry Curtis provides the best explanation. Below is his testimony on this bill.

Please check it out and consider weighing in yourself. It is now very easy to submit testimony from the Capitol web page. Even a short statement counts.

Help bring some sanity into the energy debate. Send in something today.

Ok, over to Henry for the straight dope on this bill:
02.18.10 HB2421.Oil Tax