This Is What It Looks Like When An Industry Controls A State
canada goose outlet mississauga PITTSBURGH Six years ago, state Rep. Greg canada goose uk outlet Vitali (D) made the first attempt to impose a tax on drillers sucking natural gas from Pennsylvania’s canada goose store bedrock. canada goose outlet mississauga
canada goose outlet online uk Lawmakers have tried at least 66 times since, to no avail. canada goose outlet online uk
canada goose outlet vip This makes Pennsylvania the only major gas producing state that doesn’t require oil and gas companies to pay a fee, buy canada goose jacket cheap or severance tax, on the amount of gas extracted 5 trillion cubic feet. The tax could raise $100 million this year alone to help plug the state’s $2.2 billion budget deficit. Failing to pass it amounts to “leaving money on the table,” according to the Brookings Institution. About 70 percent of voters in Pennsylvania support adding the tax. canada goose outlet vip
canada goose victoria parka outlet In July, the elusive severance tax seemed within grasp. The state Senate passed a bipartisan spending bill that included a severance tax that would charge fracking companies about 2 cents per thousand cubic feet of gas. canada goose victoria parka outlet
canada goose outlet parka But when the budget bill that included it came up for debate in the House of Representatives two weeks ago, the severance tax got cut illustrating what critics say is the deep pocketed gas industry’s stranglehold on Pennsylvania politics. On Wednesday, Gov. Tom Wolf (D), for whom the tax is a key political issue, urged legislators to pass a severance tax proposal approved by a bipartisan committee. canada goose outlet parka
canada goose outlet washington dc Canada Goose Outlet “This is a fair and commonsense proposal that will canada goose address our structural budget deficit,” Wolf told HuffPost by email. canada goose outlet washington dc
canada goose outlet official But the bill faces an upward slope slicked with lobbying money. Since 2009, the industry has spent more than $59 million lobbying state canada goose clearance legislators, and contributed $9.5 million to campaigns and political action committees, according to data released this month by the watchdog group Common Cause. An investigation by The Philadelphia Inquirer and the Pittsburgh Canada Goose Parka Post Gazette estimated the spending was more like $61 million. canada goose outlet official
canada goose outlet store uk “It’s a matter of public record that they’ve lobbied heavily against this for years, and they’ve been very effective in doing that,” Vitali told HuffPost. “We have a huge, huge deficit and we’re starting to monetize assets and lease assets, yet we can’t get a severance tax done.” canada goose outlet store uk
canada goose outlet niagara falls Vitali, who has represented a district in Philadelphia’s western suburbs for 25 years, said that while he still wants a severance tax, he wouldn’t have supported the version that passed in the Senate anyway. Republican leaders had only consented to include the severance tax in buy canada goose jacket the legislation in exchange for measures weakening the state Department of Environmental Canada Goose sale Protection. canada goose outlet niagara falls
canada goose stockists uk One rule would have outsourced environmental permitting to a third party panel staffed by businesspeople, including landscape architects. Another would have automatically approved all outstanding permit requests uk canada goose after a period of 30 to 45 days regardless of whether the request contained inaccurate information or violated other regulations. A third provision would put a seven person committee appointed by Republican leadership in charge of setting rules on air quality and methane pollution from drilling sites. canada goose stockists uk
canada goose outlet near me But even a severance tax bill loaded with polluter giveaways couldn’t pass. A top industry blog published a list of Republican senators who supported it, under a graphic reading: “Traitor in our midst.” The industry’s main trade group vowed to do “whatever is necessary” to stop the tax. And once again, the industry got what it wanted. canada goose outlet near me
canada goose jacket outlet sale “The lack of a severance tax, it’s an example of the best policy that money can buy,” Steve Herzenberg, executive director of the Pennsylvania economic think tank Keystone Research Center, told HuffPost. “Lawmakers need to think about a variation of the famous John F. Kennedy phrase, ask not what you can do for your gas industry, ask what your gas industry can do for your state.” canada goose jacket outlet sale
canada goose outlet london uk The governor’s office said the Canada Goose Jackets latest tax legislation”did not include the same permitting reform,” but said the administration “was willing to make reasonable compromises” as long as they “would not sacrifice the Department of Environmental Protection’s ability to protect Pennsylvanians and the environment.” canada goose outlet london uk
canada goose outlet houston Natural gas companies do pay what’s called an impact fee for each new well they drill in canada goose uk shop Pennsylvania. Sixty percent of that money goes to the local government, providing a steady source of revenue for towns and counties hurt by mining and manufacturing decline. The rest goes to state agencies involved in regulating drilling, cleaning up the environmental damages left behind, and repairing roads and infrastructure. But collection of that fee peaked along with the number of new wells in 2013 at canada goose coats about $225 million, and has since fallen to $173 million, a record low. canada goose outlet houston
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canada goose outlet woodbury The American Petroleum Institute, the industry’s top lobbying group, argued in February that the impact fee has filled state and local canadian goose jacket coffers with more than $1 billion over the past five years as natural gas has transformed Pennsylvania’s energy profile. The state is on track to reduce carbon emissions from coal fired power plants to 30 percent below 2005 levels cheap Canada Goose by 2030, due largely https://www.canadagoosejacketsaleca.com to increased use of natural gas. (Methane emissions are on the rise, however, according to self reported industry data released last month by the state DEP. Methane is a greenhouse gas roughly 30 times more potent than carbon dioxide.) canada goose outlet woodbury
canada goose outlet in montreal “Investing in pipeline projects throughout Pennsylvania would bolster the impact tax, allowing currently shut in gas to get to uk canada goose outlet market, thereby increasing tax collections,” Stephanie Catarino Wissman, executive director of the American Petroleum Institute’s Pennsylvania branch, said in a statementin February. “This way, all Pennsylvanians benefit by increased impact tax investments and the environmental benefits canada goose black friday sale of increased natural gas usage.” canada goose outlet in montreal
canada goose outlet montreal The governor made a 5 percent severance tax a central campaign promise in 2013, when he defeated incumbent Republican Gov. Tom Corbett. Environmentalists criticized Wolf, who received donations from the gas industry, for demonstrating only tepid support for cracking down on fracking polluters. Last year, his proposal for a 6.5 percent tax failed. The latest bill proposes a volume tax that increases with the price of natural gas from 2 cents per thousand cubic feet to 3.5 cents per thousand cubic feet. The tax could generate between $100 million and $250 million annually. canada goose outlet montreal
canada goose outlet london But state Sen. Scott Wagner (R) is trying to make the severance tax a central fight in his challenge to Wolf’s re election. The Republican gubernatorial hopeful last month urged GOP legislators to kibosh any attempt to canada goose coats on sale pass a severance tax, Canada Goose Coats On Sale which he said would help Wolf secure a second term. canada goose outlet london
canada goose outlet nyc “One thing has become abundantly clear: Too many Republicans in canada goose clearance sale the legislature are more focused on the 2018 elections than on helping Pennsylvania succeed,” Wolf said at a press conferencethis month. “They would rather see me fail than Pennsylvania succeed. They would rather protect special interests, lobbyists and campaign donors than do the right thing. I’m not going to play their games anymore. I’m drawing a line in the sand.” canada goose outlet nyc
canada goose womens outlet To fill the budget gap, state legislators are Canada Goose online looking to other sources of revenue. In lieu of a drilling tax, the bill debated this month in the House proposed adding a 5 percent tax on hotels, a move lawmakers could justify as putting cheap canada goose uk the burden on visitors from outside the state rather than residents. In a state that invests very little in tourism just $4 million compared with New York’s $70 million the proposed tax was seen as a sign of how far legislators were willing to go to appease gas producers at the expense of other industries. canada goose womens outlet
canada goose clothing uk “To put it bluntly, it would have been devastating,” said Melissa Bova, vice president of government affairs at the Pennsylvania Restaurant and Lodging Association, a trade group. canada goose clothing uk
canada goose outlet in usa But even high hotel costs haven’t stopped the state from becoming a canada goose uk black friday major hub for oil and gas industry events. Late last month, Shale Insight Conference, the gas industry’s foremost regional confab, hosted its annual event in Pittsburgh. Former White House press secretary Sean Spicer gave the keynote address, telling gas producers they had a friend in President Donald Trump and Environmental Protection Agency head Scott Pruitt, who cultivated cozy ties with the gas industry as Oklahoma’s attorney general. canada goose outlet in usa
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canada goose parka outlet uk He said the industry should continue to “unleash itself.” The room erupted in applause. canada goose parka outlet uk
canada goose outlet vancouver A week later, the Interstate Oil and Gas Compact Canada Goose Outlet Commission, a private industry advocacy group that functions like a state agency, met in Pittsburgh. Next week, the annual Appalachian Oil Gas Conference is set to canada goose factory sale take place at the Hilton DoubleTree in downtown Pittsburgh canada goose outlet vancouver.