11/25/24 - 156 New Stories - REAL Environmental & Conservation Leadership In PA: http://tinyurl.com/54ukts8z
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Sen. Ferlo To Push For Stronger Gas Drilling Law
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Sen. Jim Ferlo (D-Allegheny), pointing to what he calls questionable business practices and lopsided influence in Pennsylvania, announced draft legislation that would impose a reasonable Marcellus Shale severance tax, toughen environmental and health protections, and restore local zoning powers.
"Since the enactment of Act 13, practically a sweetheart deal for the lucrative gas drilling industry, we have seen alarming examples of drilling companies engaged in dishonest business practices, bullying communities where they drill and manipulating Pennsylvania's medical community," Sen. Ferlo said.
The Lawrenceville Democrat pointed to a recent Reuters report detailing an odd loan scheme where the CEO of Chesapeake Energy recently borrowed over a billion dollars using his stake in the company's oil and gas wells as collateral. Sen. Ferlo said the questionable loan has hurt the company's stock price and damaged confidence in the gas industry's business practices in the Commonwealth.
He added that Chesapeake Energy, the second largest producer of natural gas, blatantly ignored a Beaver County community's cease and desist order involving a lease dispute with local residents.
Sen. Ferlo also expressed concern about the Pennsylvania Medical Society's suspect about face regarding the industry's insistence that physicians adhere to strict confidentiality agreements on the exact contents of fracking fluid.
"The Society seems resigned to accepting how Corbett bureaucrats claim the law will be interpreted rather than demanding that the law be fixed in order to assure doctors of their freedom to discuss potentially deadly toxins in fracking fluid," Sen. Ferlo said.
He reiterated that the state's current law, Act 13, is weak in nearly every way, shape and form. Sen. Ferlo voted against the measure and strenuously opposed the bill at every turn in the legislative process.
"The local fee component in the law is insignificant and grossly undersells Pennsylvania's Marcellus shale resources," Sen. Ferlo said. "My legislation would do away with this unreliable and inadequate fee structure, and impose a more robust severance tax like nearly every other major gas producing state in America has done."
Sen. Ferlo plans to offer an omnibus amendment which would also enhance existing regulations that protect the state's environment and the public health. He added that his measure would also restore local zoning powers that would protect smaller communities from being legally trampled by deep-pocketed corporate interests.
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4/30/2012 |
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