Readers React: The false choice between fixing roads and fixing the climate

To the editor: George Skelton would like Gov. Jerry Brown to bring his focus down from the “lofty” issue of climate change and get us working to improve our awful roads. But we absolutely must plan for the future even as we maintain our current way of life. (“California can’t stop global warming alone, but it can fix its highways,” July 22)

Climate change brings with it many challenges, not least of which are the costs of infrastructure. Newport Beach, for example, is currently looking at the need to raise the height of sea walls that protect Balboa Island in the face of rising sea levels. Such costs will increase dramatically if we do not address the basic causes.

Present and future needs rely on the ability of Americans to pay at a time when many are hanging on by a thread. Perhaps the fortunate few could acknowledge their obligation — and their ability — to share more of their wealth for our common well-being.

Grace Bertalot, Anaheim

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To the editor: It is interesting to me that California has such a hard time coming up with money to fix our broken roads and bridges. While we are the third-largest producer of oil and gas in the country, our state is one of the very few that does not have a severance tax.

Alaska is hardly far left politically, yet it charges energy companies a tax on their production, invests the proceeds and divvies up the returns up to the residents of Alaska. Texas oil taxes provide millions to that state’s schools and universities.

After all, other than the auto industry, who benefits more from our highway system than the petroleum industry?

John Patrick Ormsbee, Newport Beach

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To the editor: I love that the proposed SB 16 raises fuel taxes and fixes roads, but that’s about all there is to like; the bill is otherwise too complex.

Vehicle license fees should reflect the costs those vehicles impose upon society — both to the road and to the climate. How did state Sen. Jim Beall (D-San Dose) decide that each electric car costs society $100 per year?

It’s well known that pavement damage per mile goes up exponentially per axle. We should be taxing the large trucks that cause the majority of road wear, not small cars that are more damaged by our roads than the other way around.

Daniel Kegel, Los Angeles

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