Wolf's Fracking Position Mixed

Well, it's a mixed time for those who want to protect Pennsylvania's environment from fracking and other forms of natural gas extraction. On the one hand, Tom Corbett and his awful record on the issue are leaving town. That's good. On the other hand, Tom Wolf's position is mixed, and while certainly better, isn't quite keeping up with our neighbors. In New York, Governor Cuomo is banning fracking in the Marcellus Shale region. Governor Wolf is not.

When it comes to the vast regions of Pennsylvania sitting atop the Marcellus Shale, though, Governor-Elect Tom Wolf disagrees.

When asked by PoliticsPA if he supports the actions of Gov. Cuomo, Wolf’s camp was clear.

“Governor-elect Wolf opposes a ban, and he will work hard to make sure the process is safe,” responded Jeffrey Sheridan, Press Secretary for Wolf’s transition team.

“Pennsylvania’s natural resources should help the commonwealth become an energy leader, including renewable energy and energy efficiency, as well as a magnet for investment and job creation,” he continued. “Governor-elect Wolf’s priority is to ensure that Pennsylvania is an energy leader with all Pennsylvanians sharing in the prosperity.

“Governor-elect Wolf will work to strengthen the rules governing drilling, increase enforcement of the rules, hire more inspectors, and create a health registry to monitor health issues,” Sheridan concluded.

Well, given some of the serious problems popping up on fracking and Marcellus Shale, I think this is not quite the position I prefer, but it's an upgrade on what we have. To be totally fair, New York is a much more liberal state, and Cuomo can probably get away with this in a way Wolf can't. On the other hand, I don't feel like the fact that we have natural gas under us should mean wells of water lighting on fire either, so I'm hoping we either get some clarity on how safe we are, or a ban on extraction.

If we are going to extract gas though, we really need to come into reality on what we charge companies doing that. Every state in the union that has natural gas, has an extraction tax. Every state except for Pennsylvania, that is. Governor-Elect Wolf says he wants one. The industry is fighting him. There may be room for a deal with the legislature though:

With an anticipated $2.2 billion deficit looming next year, Senate Majority Leader Jake Corman (R., Centre) on Saturday said he was willing to discuss a severance tax if Wolf would negotiate on cutting costs in the state pension system.

A spokesman for the Marcellus Shale Coalition said the conference call was organized before Corman made his comments to business leaders at the Pennsylvania Society weekend event.

But the message remained the one drillers have hammered home at every opportunity: Tax gas drilling, and the state risks extinguishing an economic bright spot that has poured $34 billion into the economy, saved $45 million in energy costs, and created thousands of new jobs.

The billion-dollar revenue figure Wolf uses is "wildly overestimated," said David Spigelmyer, president of the Marcellus Shale Coalition.

But a Wolf spokesman said that even if a tax generates only $600 million its first year, that would be as much as was raised under three years of the impact fee, largely designated for communities in northern and Western Pennsylvania most affected by gas drilling.

Also on Tuesday, Sen. Jim Brewster (D., Allegheny) announced his plan to introduce a bill that would impose a smaller shale gas extraction tax while retaining the current local impact fee, for a total tax burden of 5 percent.

Pennsylvania is the only major gas drilling state without a severance tax, and tax supporters maintain its absence has cost the state hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue.

"We don't buy the line the gas industry mouthpieces use that it will burden them further," said Wolf's spokesman, Jeff Sheridan. "Right now they are getting free rides, and schools are suffering."

First off, Texas and Alaska have extraction taxes. Yes, Texas and Alaska. Yes, the home-states of recent governors Rick Perry and Sarah Palin. They have an extraction tax. Secondly, the estimates say we'd close have our deficit in year one with the tax. Even if we got $600 million, that's 30% of the deficit right there. Third off, don't ever believe when an industry says government action means less jobs. Unless there's no profit to be made from that gas under us, the industry will come. I guarantee you they still see dollar signs.

In short, i'm glad to see increased regulation and an extraction tax on the agenda, though I think at least a moratorium on drilling would be good. Either way, we're getting an upgrade on a failed governor.