Marcellus Shale Sham
Last Wednesday, the PA House passed Marcellus Shale legislation that will force hard-working Pennsylvanians to sacrifice. Democratic leaders quickly assailed the bill as an ill-conceived travesty for the people of Pennsylvania, arguing that the “local impact fee” is equivalent to letting big drilling companies off the hook.
Democratic Whip Mike Hanna was openly critical. "This bill is a sham. It’s nothing more than a sweetheart deal for the multi-billion-dollar oil and gas industry. It swindles Pennsylvania’s taxpayers and fails to make huge out-of-state corporations pay their fair share.” Furthering the idea that the people of Pennsylvania will ultimately pay, Hanna added that “This legislation privatizes the profits from the Marcellus Shale for the big oil and gas industry, and socializes the costs of environmental cleanup on the backs of the hardworking Pennsylvanians living in the Marcellus Shale region.”
This extreme right-wing mentality is seen by many Democrats as an effort to condone the exploitation of Pennsylvanians for the direct profit of big corporations. Democrats agree that a more ethical approach is to face this issue in an intelligent, reasonable way, that doesn’t endanger the people of Pennsylvania without their consent. “There is no greater issue facing the people of Pennsylvania than the responsible oversight of the booming natural gas drilling industry in the Marcellus Shale region. We should pass a real, fair and reasonable severance tax on the oil and gas drillers in the Marcellus Shale”, Rep. Hanna stated. “The people of Pennsylvania deserve more than half-measures crafted under the cover of darkness."
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