Big Oil will stay as long as there’s money to be made

Letter: Big Oil will stay as long as there’s money to be made | Juneau Empire – Alaska’s Capital City Online Newspaper.

There are many good points being made on this debate right now, so I’m highlighting them.

For those outside of Alaska, this issue will be voted on August 19. SB21 was Governor Parnell’s oil tax reduction plan, which I was opposed to. I favored the Palin-era ACES tax system. When the petition came around to repeal it, however, I opted for stability in the tax environment. I have since changed my mind because I believe Alaska is suffering from abused colony syndrome, whereby we continually forget that it is OUR oil and therefore, we have a right to act like a North Dakota landowner and demand a premium for access to our resources. And, in the end, under ACES (which the taxation system will revert to if SB21 is set aside) the oil companies are still taking home a tidy profit of around 49% AFTER they deduct the cost of producing the oil.