To the editor: The California Legislature should update the oil drilling licensing fee structure (“Trump administration orders restart of oil drilling along California coast amid Iran war,” March 13). Anyone extracting oil off our coast should pay additional charges to cover costs related to:
- Health coverage for our citizens who will suffer additional medical needs from the drilling;
- Environmental damage suffered on land and in the water;
- Cleanup that will be necessary once the company leaves us holding the bag;
- And economic damage caused by negative effect to tourism.
Perhaps a modest $10 per barrel in each category would be about right. With the right amount, drilling off our coast would become too expensive and discourage this sort of folly.
David Helkenn, San Diego
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To the editor: This administration starts a war, creating a rise in oil prices, and then orders resumption of environmentally destructive offshore drilling. It recalls the not-so-funny joke about the person who kills their parents and then claims mercy because they are an orphan.
Larry Harmell, Los Angeles
