Re: Dec. 4 news story.
Every citizen benefits from taxes the state spends on the legal system, highway infrastructure, state highway patrol, and many are able to appreciate works of art and history curated by state-funded museums. As every person uses energy, it seems to me that severance taxes fund these state services. As oil and gas extraction have declined, severance taxes and state revenues have fallen in many resource-rich states. The populace is not using less energy; rather, the type of energy use is changing. To be fair to those providing state services, new taxes on wind, solar, biofuels and hydroelectric power should be passed. Put into effect properly, state revenue per capita should and would be stable.
Robert Brayden, Lakewood
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