Corbett refuses to budge on gas tax policy
Pennsylvania’s governor tells township supervisors he will protect the state’s water from dangers posed by drilling.
HERSHEY — Gov. Tom Corbett told a crowd of local-government officials Monday that he would oppose a new state tax on natural gas extraction even if the industry had not contributed nearly $1 million to his election campaign, and he vowed to protect the state’s water supplies from drilling-related degradation.
“I will not let them poison the water,” Corbett said, drawing applause from many of the more than 1,500 people who turned out to hear him speak at the annual conference of the Pennsylvania State Association of Township Supervisors.
Gas drilling on the Marcellus Shale formation that stretches beneath much of western and northern Pennsylvania is proliferating rapidly, and the response to the governor’s speech underscored the importance of drilling to the local officials who deal with its benefits and dangers on a daily basis.
Of particular concern is the drilling wastewater, some of which is taken to treatment plants that discharge into waterways that are used as sources of drinking water. Locally, the Wyoming Valley Sanitary Authority is considering conducting a feasibility study on constructing a plant to treat the water mixed with chemicals used in the hydraulic fracturing process to extract natural gas.
Earlier this month, the Corbett administration said it was widening the scope of water tests to screen for radioactive pollutants and other contaminants from drilling and adding more water-quality testing stations on the state’s rivers.
“We need to protect the water,” said the governor, a Republican, “but we must do it based on science, not emotion.”
Corbett has come under fire for proposing deep cuts in state aid to higher education and public schools in his state budget plan for the year that starts July 1, while refusing to tax the natural gas that multinational energy companies and others are extracting from shale deep underneath land leased from public and private owners.
The former state attorney general, who was sworn in as governor in January, said a new tax would be detrimental to job creation at this early stage of the state’s gas industry.
“Everywhere I go in the Marcellus region, we’re starting to see development,” he said. “It’s the only industry that’s really growing in Pennsylvania.”
Pennsylvania is the only major state that produces natural gas but does not tax it. But Corbett warned the township officials that state-to-state comparisons are tricky because each state has a different tax mix. He cited Texas, where he went to law school, as an example.
“Texas doesn’t have a personal income tax. Texas doesn’t have a property tax. So when we’re talking about taxes, don’t you think we ought to compare apples to apples and oranges to oranges?” he asked. Pennsylvania has a state income tax and local property taxes.
Corbett, who pledged in his campaign not to increase taxes or fees if elected, said the generous industry contributions he received were not a factor in his opposition to a tax.
“Had they not given me a dime, I would still be in this position, saying we need to grow jobs in Pennsylvania,” he said.
The governor said he remains open to a proposal that would allow counties or municipalities to impose local impact fees on drilling operations to help finance repairs to local roads damaged by heavy truck traffic and other consequences of the activity.
PETER JACKSON
April 19, 2011
http://www.timesleader.com/news/Corbett_refuses_to_budge_on_gas_tax_policy_04-18-2011.html