Ahhh! The Poor Gas Industry.

       Did you happen to see it this morning, did ya? I'm talking about the gas industry's commercial about how unfair it would be to tax, no I should say, increase taxes on the natural gas industry in Pennsylvania. It will drive the industry out of the state, lose thousands of jobs for Pennsylvania and increase the costs of natural gas for everyone. I'm surprised it didn't mention the only result of real consequence, that the sky would fall.
       Did you know that Pennsylvania is the only state in America, that has commercially viable and recoverable natural gas, that does not have a tax on the amount of gas recovered. We do have a flat tax per well, but that means that they can recover millions of dollars from that well but only the $10,000 one time tax on the well. So if the company makes $10,000,000 off that well, they will have paid one tenth of one percent in taxes on it.
       So now the question is; what about those lost jobs they mention? Here's the deal, they already paid for the leasing of the land, they already have the wells and pipelines, they already have the drilling rigs here, the trained workers here. Do you really think they're gonna just pick up and go elsewhere?
       Where could they go? If every other state already has those same taxes, why would they abandon what they already have? Just to spite us? Come on. These people are in business to make money, not spite people. The gas is in the ground, They can't take it away unless they pay the tax.
       Now I don't begrudge the gas industry of trying to stop the state government from taxing them. Heck, who wouldn't like to stop the government from taxing them? I'd love to be able to put an ad on TV to get the state to end the sales tax and wage tax and property taxes and not have an income tax, but how do you do that and have roads and police protection and schools and everything else we depend on? So it's okay for them to complain, just don't let them convince you.