It is endorsed by Bill Clinton, Al Gore and Madeleine Albright. That may be enough to make your decision. However, regardless of your thoughts on those individuals, I encourage you to continue reading to discover the deception built into this proposition.
Oil is very expensive. Research that attempts to advance alternative energy is respectable. However, subsidizing long-term research – absent an obligation to produce results – with state tax revenue is irresponsible. The proposition’s selling points sound good: Create cleaner air, reduce dependency on foreign oil, develop a new program that funds itself. But Proposition 87 would actually harm California.
You must vote no if you believe research alone does not create cleaner air, that purchasing foreign oil at normal levels while conducting research will not reduce our dependency on foreign oil and new taxes and new state bonds do not exemplify a self-funding program.
Proponents argue passing Proposition 87 will clean California’s air. This is untrue for two reasons. First, air pollution neither respects nor recognizes state borders. It attacks our atmosphere indiscriminately. Second, scientific research does not reduce pollution of any ilk. State-funded research cannot somehow transmogrify contaminated air into pristine air for our breathing enjoyment.
The supporters of Proposition 87 also claim that researching alternative energy sources would reduce our dependence on foreign oil. This is another inaccurate idea. If state-sponsored research were conducted by universities, the private sector and vocational organizations, California and the United States would continue to purchase foreign oil. Contrary to illusory inferences, research is not a petroleum-based product, and thus could not be refined as a combustible fuel.
Despite what Proposition 87 backers believe, we will require domestic and foreign oil while any research is performed. Even if mere research could reduce our dependency on foreign oil, the United States is not responsible for depriving other nations of their main export income.
Proposition 87 would actually make us more dependent on foreign oil. Increasing the taxes on California oil companies would increase their costs to produce domestic oil. As a result, California oil companies would simply purchase abroad at reduced prices, add a markup to meet margins and then sell it to dealers and refineries.
The worst part of the proposition is scattered throughout the deceitful fine print that would amend the California Constitution. One area involves the new body of 50 appointees (called the “authority”) and its use of state funds. Section 26050 would allow “…the authority, by a vote of seven or more members … to determine expenditures and applications of funding.” Therefore, only 14 percent of the authority would need to agree on how much to spend and where to allocate monies. Most bureaucracies require at least a simple majority to pass legislation. That is not the case under Proposition 87 – a simple minority is all it would take.
Another deceiving area is the one dealing with payroll (remember, this measure is proposing a $4 billion tax and bond program over 10 years). Let’s do the math: 50 new appointees, earning approximately $105,000 each, would equal $5.25 million per annum. Since it is being pitched as a 10-year program, it would bring appointee paychecks to $52.5 million.
The truth is that these numbers do not even represent half of what appointee paychecks would amount to. Section 26049 creates and allocates “Three and one-half percent (3.5%) to the Administration Account.” Three and a half percent of $4 billion is actually $140 million – almost triple the amount of what proponents are claiming.
But wait, it gets worse. Section 26029.4 states – “The existence of the authority may be terminated at any time by the Legislature no sooner than January 1, 2027.”
If you think oil experts Clinton and Gore could each use a $5.6 million personal paycheck, paid for by your tax dollars, go ahead and vote for them. Otherwise, if you believe in logic, accountability and saving California’s future, vote No on Proposition 87.
Mike Pascale Jr. is a senior political science major, a weekly columnist and a copy editor for the Daily Forty-Niner.
