Pittsburgh, Pa. – Marcellus Shale Coalition president David Spigelmyer issued the following statement in response to the introduction of Gov. Wolf’s energy tax proposal:
“Gov. Wolf, who we deeply respect, has said that he’s ‘not a product of our political system.’ Yet today’s proposal is nothing new and certainly not a solution to Pennsylvania’s big challenges. In fact, this tax, spend and borrow approach – which has failed Pennsylvanians for far too long – will be a gut punch to hardworking families and small businesses across the energy industry and our building trades while increasing energy costs for consumers who want to pay less for the energy they need, not more.
“Despite what some continue to suggest and don’t want voters to know, Pennsylvania taxes natural gas through the impact fee. This natural gas tax, which directly benefits communities across the entire Commonwealth, is on track to generate $1.7 billion in revenue since 2012, including in excess of a quarter of a billion dollars in new tax revenue this year alone. Communities will receive their share of natural gas tax revenues this month, which will be dedicated to strengthening roads and bridges, improving parks and trails, flood mitigation, and emergency services, to name a few.
“With the right policies – focused on growing jobs locally and encouraging investment in Pennsylvania – lawmakers can help ensure that more revenue is being generated without causing harm to our workforce and our economy. Unfortunately, additional energy taxes along with added taxpayer debt to fuel even more government spending is not a serious approach. Let’s keep Pennsylvania open for business and find commonsense solutions to boost manufacturing and infrastructure development by using more natural gas here locally.”
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Founded in 2008, the Marcellus Shale Coalition (MSC) works with exploration and production, midstream and supply chain partners in the Appalachian Basin and across the country to address issues regarding the production, transportation and use of clean, job-creating, American natural gas from the Marcellus and Utica Shale plays.
