High-level administrators of the University of California system have been urging students to support a bill that would tax oil and natural gas extraction in California in order to fund higher education.  To many, taxing greedy and destructive drilling companies in order to fund something beneficial to society, like higher education, sounds like a great idea but unfortunately, this will not solve the problem of rising tuition costs in California.

First of all, taxing fuel and energy does not take money away from the companies. Just because a politician can promise that the companies will be prevented from passing costs onto the customer will not make it anymore possible to do so. Furthermore, drivers will not be the only ones with the additional burden either. Taxing energy means that the cost of any good (even local ones) produced and shipped increases. Basically, this tax will be paid by your family, your friends, and you. Of course, taxing students and their families is not a very popular notion, so the administrators will never tell you where the money will actually come from.

Of course, public universities are already funded by tax dollars and since they need help, why is it a bad thing to send a little extra money their way (even though it is being done deceitfully)? If throwing money at a problem is an effective solution, the world would have a lot less problems right now. Giving the UC system more money without enforcing transparency and accountability would mean more money is lost due to inefficiency and corruption. Basically, people will pay more in taxes and not receive lower tuition rates. Furthermore, some even disagree that the UC system requires any more money than it is currently receiving to run properly (UniversityProbe.org).