Issue Position: Marcellus Shale Gas Drilling

Issue Position

The Pennsylvania Assembly has passed a bill (HB1950) that amounts to a financial break for the gas companies and a cause for concern for our environment and our local municipalities. (HB1950) states "all ordinances purporting to regulate oil and gas operations … are hereby superseded." This bill overrides local regulation of oil and gas companies and simultaneously places an effective tax rate of only 2.6% on those companies. This is the lowest rate charged by gas drilling states.

I have a sincere interest in protecting our environment from bad energy policies, whether it's open space or protecting our ground water from polluters. I also believe that NO ONE can better decide environmental policy for a local community than their own local zoning boards or municipal government.

Source