When Tom Corbett assumed residency at the governor’s mansion in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania’s collective priority list became dramatically reordered. Values long upheld by citizens on both sides of the partisan divide were henceforth dismissed with shocking, unprecedented plutocratic abandon.
“We need to do the hard cutting so the tree can once again bear fruit,” said the freshman governor.
Only problem with that, Tom: the tree you mention stands dying in a radioactive cesspool of “hydrofracking” fluid.
Protecting the environment within which we live, providing an adequate public education system for our children – these concepts have been a mainstay in PA politics for decades, but no longer.
Yes, Mr. Corbett: voters did, by way of the ballot box, authorize you to rein in swollen deficits; just not at the expense of our already underfunded schools and universities, nor the safety of our citizens, the health of our rivers and forests.
Respectfully, the Corbett administration owes full reconsideration to the trajectory of their leadership thus far. For one thing, the discovery of the Marcellus shale abundantly deposited beneath Pennsylvania does not belong to corporations (most from out-of-state). Energy resources originating from within the confines of Commonwealth boundaries should not be allowed to cross state lines without kicking in to the cash-strapped general fund.
Of the 16 states now involved with “hydrofracking”, Pennsylvania abstains from this common sense revenue source of implementing a tax on natural gas extraction.
For many voters, the inherent aversion to the projected impact of energy extraction on local communities and drinking water supplies can only be subdued by the notion of subsidizing the state budget with a nominal fraction of profits. Instead, resources leave, pollution occurs, and revenues escape to private investors (also mostly out-of-state).
The Rendell administration’s push for a severance tax, applicable only to fossil fuels extracted, then exported out of Pennsylvania, has been supported by a growing majority of citizens. According to a March Franklin & Marshall Poll, this trend continues, with 62% in favor of implementing just such a tax.
But is Tom Corbett only “doing what he said he was going to do,” as his administration repeatedly contends?
His campaign website touted his call “for collaboration between DEP and the natural gas industry to develop environmental standards that will be adopted through legislative action to ensure successful natural gas development with sound environmental stewardship.”
Little did most voters realize: this “collaboration” would involve an insidious strain of cronyism; a thematic mainstay in Corbett’s fledgling government. Mike Krancer, a long-time contributor to Corbett campaign coffers, now heads PA’s Departmental of Environmental Protection.
“Corbett for Governor” described the fifty ways Tom would help change Pennsylvania. With Krancer at the helm, Corbett readily delivers on his campaign promise to “direct” the DEP to “be focused on protecting our environment while serving as a partner with business and our communities”. It’s the emphasis on the nature of that “business partnership” that should raise red flags of concern. Krancer’s announcements thus far have only called for voluntary compliance by Marcellus Shale drillers to prevent further contamination of drinking water supplies. But where there is smoke, there are sure to be mirrors.
Pennsylvania has become a political battleground state over this fundamental understanding regarding the application of this essential bureaucratic oversight. With the mysterious absence of actual environmentalists amidst our newly appointed DEP leadership, this bureau lacks effectiveness as it does credibility, and the health of Pennsylvanians stands threatened accordingly.
It might stand to reason that the primary function of the DEP is to protect the environment; as the agency’s name would suggest. Evidently, drillers eager to skip the waiting line for issuance of permits saw DEP regulations as counterproductive to the potentialities of runaway profitability.
Now, public water suppliers in the western part of the state have begun to vocalize their inability to treat drilling wastewater, with rising bromide levels stoking fears of potentially cancer-causing drinking water in the not-so-distant future.
Another one of Tom’s fifty promises explains this clearly: “Pennsylvania is blessed with abundant natural resources, and we must do everything we can to protect them.” Unfortunately, Corbett’s take on the issue indicates that it’s the profitability of resource extraction that demands legislative protections from those pesky state regulators; a mind-blowing interpretation of the DEP’s intended role.
In addition to Krancer helping Corbett “balance development and economic growth with ensuring that our families can enjoy the beauty of Pennsylvania,” the governor rolled out his next gift to the Commonwealth. It came in the form of a notorious polluter, C. Alan Walker, being placed in control of the Department of Community and Economic Development. Rubber-stamping permits, while side-stepping investigative procedures, becomes virtually a commonplace endeavor.
A recent study by the Pennsylvania Budget and Policy Center reveals that, besides exaggerating their contributions to the state’s revenue stream, the energy industry has designed a tax evasive corporate structuring. Nine out of the top ten permit holders are either Limited Liability Corporations (LLCs) or Limited Partnerships (LPs), in successful avoidance of corporate net income tax. These companies pay property taxes valued without the consideration of natural gas reserves below ground, and are exempt from sales taxes on drilling equipment purchases. The growing propensity for corporations to shift profits to Delaware allows further tax shelter, according to the study.
Last November, Harrisburg quietly underwent what has since revealed itself to be a corporate-backed regime change. Pennsylvanians watched as lobbyists that contributed to the Corbett campaign saturated his transition team as the pendulum of PA politics swung radically away from the outgoing Rendell administration.
A mere four months into his term, Corbett is just getting started.
Citizens throughout the Commonwealth absolutely need to engage the ongoing civic dialogue surrounding Marcellus shale drilling operations. The effects of Corbett’s immediate budgetary proposals threaten to shake-up our collective list of priorities, with lasting effects for decades to come. We the People must rally against these pimps of pollution and political prostitution. The health of Pennsylvania’s budget, our state parks, farmlands, drinking water and citizens depend on it.
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