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Gas tax (and oh, maybe democracy) apparently dead for now
The Web site for the award-winning alternative weekly, the Philadelphia City Paper.
Gas tax (and oh, maybe democracy) apparently dead for now
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CP's breaking news and analysis of the natural gas industry in Pennsylvania. Click here to join the âFrack Trackâ Google group and receive email updates.
Governor Rendell announced yesterday that the proposed (and agreed upon in the last budget session) tax on natural gas extraction is officially "dead" for this session, after Senate Republicans refused to make a counter-proposal the governor would accept.
And while the gas industry and the politicians it bankrolls light cigars and roll naked in piles of money â or whatever they do after such victories â the rest of us ought to take a good hard look at how exactly one of the largest and most lucrative industries to arrive in this state in recent history has, in the middle of a recession, managed to avoid paying taxes on the extraction of the most valuable natural resource we have left.
With money, that's how: in just a few years, the gas industry has poured millions of dollars into lobbying and campaign contributions to our elected officials â Republicans especially.
According to the website MarcellusMoney.org, a project of Common Cause Pennsylvania, the industry has spent more than $5 million lobbying Harrisburg since 2007 alone in installments of ever-increasing value (see the graph above).
Topping the list is none other than Republican Gubernatorial candidate Tom Corbett ($372,270), followed by Senate President Pro Tem Joseph Scarnati ($117,575), followed by Governor Ed Rendell ($84,100), followed by Democratic Gubernatorial candidate Dan Onorato ($74,300), all followed by a sizeable chunk of the Republican wing of the State Senate â the same that just couldn't seem to propose a tax on the enormous profits the gas industry expects to make here.
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| MarcellusMoney.org, a project of Common Cause PA |
| Gas industry lobbying since 2007 |
The industry, of course, argues that taxation will hamper its growth, cost jobs, drive the industry out, etc. But there are few issues in state politics that are more cut and dry: the argument is utter nonsense.
Marcellus Shale gas, it so happens, is confined to the Marcellus Shale. The gas is here, and if there exists a tax that would actually discourage the fossil fuel industry from coming here to get it, nothing close to it has ever been proposed. Even if the tax did slow down the pace of development, it would be slowed from what is now a dangerous free-for-all that, in just a few years, has destroyed the water supply of an entire town (state regulators have ordered Cabot Oil & Gas to supply Dimock, PA's water), involved dozens of spills of toxic waste, ruined the infrastructure of municipalities hosting the industry, and begun already to deplete fresh water supplies across the state â activity which has, and continues to go, untaxed.
Tom Corbett gets the biggest cut of the proceeds of that activity while the public gets zilch â and, if elected, he's promised to keep it that way.
It's looking like a good night for Ting Wong.
[...] Philadelphia Citypaper (blog) [...]
[...] Philadelphia Citypaper (blog) [...]
[...] Philadelphia Citypaper (blog) [...]
[...] Philadelphia Citypaper (blog) [...]
One way to reduce the power of oil and their special interests is to replace oil with sustainable technologies that can and will provide jobs for years to come. According to a June 2009 report by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, inaction on global warming will cause significant harm to Pennsylvania: farmers (produce $5 billion for the state) will lose ground to droughts and pests; and, rising temperatures will induce stress to dairy cows, causing $480 million in losses and affecting 5,300 jobs. For more information follow me on twitter at http://twitter.com/Hirschsc.
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