Small businesses and laborers across the Commonwealth as well as the county’s state representatives are absolutely right: Gov. Wolf’s highest-in-the-nation energy tax will jeopardize shale’s clear economic and environmental benefits, discourage growth and threaten good-paying jobs.
As Rep. Jim Christiana correctly states, Gov. Wolf’s massive energy tax hike will subsidize high-cost energy forms like wind and solar rather than actually boosting education funding. What’s more, as the Associated Press and others have reported, Gov. Wolf’s energy tax won’t come even close to raising his promised $1 billion.
Community leaders are also warning Harrisburg that even higher energy taxes would hurt local economies by threatening the state’s impact tax, which has generated $850 million for all 67 Pennsylvania counties. Worse, the state’s Independent Fiscal Office confirmed that consumers would shoulder the costs of higher energy taxes through increased utility rates.
As lawmakers work to finalize the state’s budget, it’s clear that we need policies that encourage job growth, particularly as it relates to revitalizing our manufacturing base, rather than massive energy taxes.
Erica Clayton Wright
Marcellus Shale Coalition
Pittsburgh, Pa.
NOTE: Click HERE to view this letter online.
