Letter to the editor: Natural gas benefits Pa.
Mary Jo Simmen-Gray’s op-ed “The real story behind the Marcellus impact fee windfall” (July 1, TribLive) highlights the significance of nearly $3 billion in impact fees paid by Pennsylvania’s natural gas industry, but her suggested narrative deviates from the facts.
For example, stating fees were imposed “specifically to offset the damage that drilling causes” is false. Paying a tax is never a license to harm the environment, and the same law that enacted the impact fee also established some of the nation’s highest environmental standards for industry. Pennsylvania’s natural gas industry maintains a 97% compliance rate, among the best of any industry in the commonwealth. Companies also directly cover costs for repairing roads, plugging wells and addressing other costs associated with their activities — separate from paying the impact fee.
The claim that Pennsylvania lacks a severance tax is also inaccurate. The impact fee is a severance tax, structured uniquely so funds are allocated transparently to local communities, environmental programs and state agencies that oversee the sector.
It’s the essence of good government and continues to pay dividends to Pennsylvania year in and year out.
The impact fee is but one benefit of natural gas realized by Pennsylvanians: cleaner air, lower emissions, tens of thousands of jobs and stable energy costs all translate to a cleaner, stronger and healthier Pennsylvania.
Patrick Henderson
Robinson
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