4. Oil and natural gas are pumped from the Gulf of Mexico and along our ocean coasts by corporations large and small. (Mason Gaffney points out that Harry Truman increased the size of the US by more than any other president by expanding the coastal zone, but that we collect little revenue from the natural resources drawn therefrom.) How much should the oil companies pay the federal government?
A. Nothing
B. Just the amount negotiated in 1996. We can't change the rules just because the price of these commodities has risen rapidly.
C. A fixed and trivial percentage of the value of the oil.
D. A rising percentage of the value of the oil and gas, related to the retail prices of the products.
E. An amount that is based both on a percentage of the value of the oil and gas and on the amount of carbon produced by burning the finished product.
F. Your suggestions?
Comments
You can follow this conversation by subscribing to the comment feed for this post.