How to end oil use

Daniel Sperling, Davis

The article by Julie Cast is naïve, oblivious to good policy, and unfair to Gov. Jerry Brown, for the following reasons:

• Banning oil production in California, as advocated by critics of Gov. Brown, is well-meaning but misguided. It would simply result in Californians buying oil from Middle Eastern and other undemocratic countries, as Professor Severin Borenstein has written about so eloquently. There are many oil producers around the world who would be delighted to take Californian’s money.
•  The best approach to keeping oil in the ground is to reduce oil consumption, three-fourths of which is used for transportation. Policies to reduce oil use—including the low carbon fuel standard, electric vehicle mandates and incentives, greenhouse gas performance standards for cars and trucks, and reducing driving—are a far smarter and far more effective way to keep oil in the ground. Gov. Brown champions all these policies, more so than any other governor or President.