GOP: Shale plan good job creator

Caucus: Natural gas use worth thousands of jobs. Dems’ rep: Flawed plan hurts taxpayers.

By Steve Mocarsky smocarsky@timesleader.com
Staff Writer

The House Republican Caucus has announced a package of Marcellus Shale-related legislation that GOP officials say will create thousands of new jobs by creating incentives for the use of the clean natural gas.

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Dubbed “Marcellus Works,” the package is aimed at shifting from the use of fossil fuels to natural gas in Pennsylvania in four ways by:

• Transitioning the state fleet of 16,000 vehicles to natural gas vehicles.

• Providing tax credits to private entities that convert their fleets to natural gas vehicles and to public and private entities that construct and use natural gas fueling stations.

• Providing incentive grants to local governments to encourage them to convert those fleets to clean natural gas vehicles.

• Making the Turnpike a “Clean Natural Gas Corridor” by constructing natural gas stations at every other service station.

“Pennsylvania has an abundant supply of clean natural gas,” said House Republican Policy Committee Chairman Stan Saylor, R-York. “By creating incentives to use that natural gas, we will increase demand, and as a result, we will help create thousands of jobs not only in the natural gas industry but also in related fields like the infrastructure, manufacturing and service sectors.”

In addition, the legislation would facilitate a reduction in Pennsylvania’s dependence on oil, thereby reducing emissions of carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, nitrogen oxide and non-methane hydrocarbons, Saylor said.

“The formula is very simple,” Saylor said. “Pennsylvania’s abundant supply of gas, plus a large demand for natural gas in Pennsylvania, will equal jobs for Pennsylvanians. I hope my colleagues on both sides of the aisle will join us in supporting this effort to secure Pennsylvania’s energy future.”

But, Brett Marcy, spokesman for House Majority Leader Todd Eachus, D-Butler Township, and the House Democratic Caucus, said the plan is flawed.

“I don’t think anyone disputes that we as a society, commonwealth and country should be trying hard to wean ourselves away from fossil fuels and foreign oil. However, the House Republican plan essentially requires Pennsylvania taxpayers to spend millions of taxpayer dollars to become completely dependent on the gas companies that are currently not paying their fair share of taxes,” Marcy said.

Marcy said it would not be in the best interest of taxpayers to become “beholden to Big Oil and Gas” in hopes of creating jobs, because “this industry will bring jobs regardless of whether we spend millions of dollars.” He said the Legislature ought to instead provide incentives for the gas companies to hire local workers, rather than out-of-state workers, to fill those jobs.

“It’s perplexing that the House Republicans would want to make taxpayers responsible for trying to stimulate demand for private industry that exists worldwide. There’s already a significant demand for natural gas all across the world,” he said.

Calling the plan “impractical, unreliable and financially irresponsible,” Marcy noted the state is facing a $5 billion budget shortfall next year.

“I know the Republicans are in the minority, but that doesn’t absolve them of responsibility of trying to govern responsibly, and it’s irresponsible to spend millions of dollars to help an industry that is actively opposing and fighting against paying their fair share of taxes in the state.”

Marcy also said the auto industry hasn’t perfected natural gas vehicles yet, and the infrastructure for keeping vehicles fueled with natural gas isn’t in place. “I don’t think it should be on Pennsylvania taxpayers to risk their hard-earned dollars on what is still an unproven market,” he said.

Steve Miskin, House Republican Caucus spokesman, said the “Marcellus Works” plan would provide incentives to create a clean natural gas infrastructure including natural gas filling stations and storage tanks.

As for costing taxpayers, Miskin said the programs would be funded with taxes paid by the Marcellus Shale gas industry. He said the industry paid $389 million in state taxes last fiscal year and is expected to pay $750 million next fiscal year, so the funding would not be taken from any existing programs.

Only a portion of that new revenue would be used for the initial investment of $55 million to $60 million, which would include $30 million in tax credits, Miskin said.

“And, there’s only a huge budget deficit if you agree with the House Democrats and Gov. (Ed) Rendell on their spending plan. We’ve put forth a number of proposals to garner different revenue for the state that were ignored by Todd Eachus,” Miskin said.

Some of those proposals include expanding the use of purchasing cards to better utilize the state’s purchasing power and working to eliminate waste, fraud and abuse in the state Department of Public Welfare and other state agencies.

“I’m honestly shocked at Rep. Eachus’ response given that a number of his members have already approached our caucus to support the clean air proposals and some committee chairs are asking about helping us put these forward. The real question is why Rep. Eachus is opposing clean air,” Miskin said.

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