From Richmond to Chevron, With Love

"If only oil refineries were portable." That has to be what Chevron is thinking these days. But, sadly you can't just pick up and move a refinery so Chevron's saga in Richmond, CA continues.

For forever it seems, the company has been put through the wringer by the city as it seeks to expand and update its refinery. That unpleasant process may soon seem like a walk in the park, though, if Measure T passes on next month's ballot.

Measure T seeks to impose a new business license fee on manufacturers in the city. Mayor Gayle McLaughlin, whose Green Party affiliation should probably tip you off as to how she feels about Chevron, is all for the measure, telling the San Francisco Chronicle that "It's only fair that we start turning around the decades of poverty and lack of opportunity."

The Chamber of Commerce takes the opposite position, wondering how the City is going to attract new businesses and create new jobs.

Just to put the measure in perspective for Chevron, if it passes, Chevron's municipal taxes will increase 440x-- Four hundred and forty times.... ($26.5 million). And Obama isn't even president until January!!!!!

Richmond tax measure would hit Chevron hard [San Francisco Chronicle]