Sunday, May 16, 2010

Can you say: Severance Tax?


Seems that every time a severance tax on natural gas production is discussed in Pennsylvania, the BIG OIL mouthpieces get all whiny and defensive.  Here's a barrage of recent comments from one of their lead whiners, Kathryn Klaber:
Klaber, who presides over a consortium of gas industry-related companies, more than 40 of which are involved in gas exploration, also spoke out against the tax. "There are other ways for us to profit from this than simply to tax," Klaber said. She added that other shale plays might become more attractive if the tax is imposed."The Marcellus play is not the only game in town," Klaber said.
Yet as we have seen from the recent BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, there are even laws in place that limit the amount of money the BIG OIL industry has to pay for an accident that they cause.

Enough already. PA is one of two states that does not have a severance tax. I think it should be enacted immediately, retroactively, and double what is currently being charged in West Virginia. If you want to see what will happen when the NG drillers screw up - look to Dimock.

If the legislators of this commonwealth are not willing to protect us, we should replace them with people that will.

Immediately.

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