Energy, Cont’d
Taxpayers are at risk for several billion dollars because the state has used public funds to underwrite the cost of electric energy for homes and businesses.
Substantial increases in electricity rates are inevitable as part of any comprehensive solution to assure reliable energy and to protect California’s vibrant economy. Reliable energy is critical to this state’s growing population and job-producing industry.
This conclusion has been reached by the California Alliance for Energy & Economic Stability, a coalition of leading business groups,the California Chamber of Commerce, the California Business Roundtable, the California Large Energy Consumers Association, the California Manufacturers and Technology Association, the California Retailers Association and the California Taxpayers’ Association.
Meanwhile, the Board of Directors of Cal-Tax urges policymakers to observe several principles, leading with the recognition that rising costs of energy should be borne by energy consumers, not taxpayers.
Attempting to insulate consumers from the realities of increased costs for energy consumption by shifting those costs from the rate structure to the tax structure discourages conservation and jeopardizes the fiscal health of the state. Consumers have some ability to respond to higher energy costs by managing utilization. Taxpayers have no control over their exposure to high energy costs financed through the tax structure.
California must also work now to increase the supply of electric energy for the future by doing whatever is necessary to expand generation capacity. Eliminating unnecessary bureaucratic impediments and providing tax incentives to encourage new generating capacity and self-generation may be methods of expediting financing and development of these energy facilities.
California must act now to stop the destabilizing effect this ongoing crisis is having on our economy.
Larry McCarthy
President
California Taxpayers’ Association
Sacramento
Emboldened by their recent success in causing California’s blackouts, environmentalists now want to extend California’s energy crisis to the whole country. They intend to do this by passing legislation to cut carbon dioxide emissions nationwide. The new bill, introduced in the House and Senate on March 15, if approved, will cause power plants to either slow down or close down.
For a long time Greens have been relentlessly promoting the idea that carbon dioxide emissions are causing global warming. They have been able to convince most Americans of it. Even President Bush seemed to have swallowed global warming during his campaign, but reversed his position and decided not to regulate carbon emissions after all.
There is no real evidence for claims of global warming. Quite to the contrary, measurements taken by balloons and satellites during the last two decades indicate a slight cooling of the globe.
The whole case for global warming actually rests on dubious results from computer models, not facts.
Also poorly understood are the consequences of an eventual global warming. All things considered, it would not be unreasonable to expect that a warmer climate may end up doing more good than harm. Scientists know as an experimentally demonstrated fact that more carbon dioxide in the atmosphere would boost global agriculture and all forms of plant life, which feed on the stuff.
Should we cut down energy production and progress under these circumstances?
David Holcberg
Senior writer
Ayn Rand Institute
Marina del Rey
Could we ever look forward to the day when Democrats and environmentalists who have blocked drilling for oil or vetoed building much-needed power plants step up and take the blame for shortages in both these areas?
No! What these people do is blame everybody else for the mess they have created with their anti-growth policies. Even Congressman Waxman joined in, blaming the federal government for our plight when he is one of “the federal government,” who continually voted against measures that would have averted it.
The chickens of liberal policies are coming home to roost. Just as right thinking prevailed in our nation’s capital, watch for the liberal politician to be swept out of office in California in the next elections.
Frank Callaghan
Publisher
Lake Elsinore
Lawsuits
Kudos to Orange County residents for taking action to help contribute to the 50% drop in lawsuits filed in the county each year. Although good news, I believe your April 9 article (“Where are the Beefs? Contrary to Popular Belief, Court Cases Are Down in OC”) downplayed the bigger picture. The number of lawsuits really isn’t the problem, it’s the costs, and those costs have been steadily increasing at an alarming rate.
ABC reported that the median product liability award in the U.S. increased from $500,000 in 1993 to $1.8 million in 1999. According to a recent study by the McGeorge School of Law, punitive damage awards against small businesses continue to soar. It doesn’t matter if only one lawsuit is filed, because if that one suit comes with a verdict that puts a company out of business and people out of work, then we still have a significant problem.
Even if the case is settled out of court, the costs of dealing with a frivolous lawsuit could cause a business to lay off part of its workforce, reduce health coverage, or curb hiring altogether. That’s hardly progress.
The decline in lawsuits in this county is a step in the right direction, but the next step, the one that really solves the problem, is the one that restores fairness and balance to our legal system. Caps on punitive damages would be a good start.
Maryann Maloney
Executive Director
Orange County Citizens
Against Lawsuit Abuse
Santa Ana
