Letters: US energy policy needs more attention

When President Obama announced last month that he was proposing a $10-per-barrel tax on oil, it was a reminder of how important energy issues are to our daily lives and how little attention they are getting in the presidential campaign.

While we focus on the candidate horse-race, the president is pushing policies that will hurt an already weak economy by taking more money out of the pockets of working people and giving it to large corporations. A tax on oil would not be borne by oil companies; it will be passed on to us in the form of higher fuel prices. That may not seem like a big deal with gas prices low, but we know that will change.

Likewise, the president is pushing a massive energy regulation that to would let states levy a carbon tax on their citizens to comply.

A carbon tax also would be passed on to consumers by big oil companies in exchange for a cut in their corporate income tax or investments in renewable energy.

A tax on energy is a tax on literally everything. Where the candidates stand on these proposals is as important as their plans to keep us secure at home and abroad. Our financial and national security is at stake in this election.

This story was originally published March 1, 2016 at 2:20 PM with the headline "Letters: US energy policy needs more attention."