In a Free Country, Surcharges for All

Re “Firms’ Use of Energy Fees Catching Heat,” July 26: It’s time to stop adding insult to injury by charging Californians energy surcharges on goods and services while they also suffer their own huge utility bills. I have another solution that would make our Texan president and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission proud: surcharge exports.

Like Texas’ isolationist energy policy, and indeed as the president suggests, California businesses should simply accept that this energy problem is their own--and deal with it. So instead, let’s share the pain. Then maybe the nation will empathize with our dilemma.

In response to the huge increases in the price of a basic need--energy--let’s put a surcharge on some basic needs California exports to others. For example, as the country’s largest food provider, we could add an energy surcharge to food exports (perhaps to be fair, we would only target energy-producing states that have increased rates more than 100% per year). Or, with the largest biotech and technology research centers in the country, perhaps we could add a premium to medical products or technology products we create or patent.

With California being the fifth-largest economy in the world, larger than any other single state in the union, it is time to stand up for ourselves. If we are forced to stand on our own, let’s at least remind the nation exactly what we contribute.

Joshua Touber

Pacific Palisades