Rendell: No drilling moratorium
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There won't be a Marcellus Shale natural gas drilling moratorium in Pennsylvania while Ed Rendell is governor -- even if that means only four more months.
Before he made a speech Tuesday in Washington, Pa., in his ongoing push for a "significant" natural gas severance tax, Mr. Rendell told a group of two dozen protesters worried about the drilling that a moratorium like New York state has enacted will never happen here.
"I would like tomorrow to be able to comb my hair in a pompadour," the balding Mr. Rendell told one of the protesters, "but it's not going to happen."
The first reason, he said, is "because I disagree with you; I think we can find a balance" between encouraging the natural gas industry growth and keeping the environment safe.
"The second reason is because it doesn't matter what I think. The Legislature will never vote for a moratorium," he said.
Told by one protester that it might have a better chance if Mr. Rendell got behind it, the Democratic governor -- who is ending his eight-year tenure this year due to term limits -- quipped: "If I got behind it, it might have even less support in the (Republican-controlled) Senate."
Instead of a moratorium, he said, Pennsylvanians concerned about the effects of natural gas drilling should join him in pushing the Legislature to enact a "robust severance tax" over the next month.
Money from that tax could be used to help -- in a revenue-sharing deal -- local governments deal with some of the concerns about industry trucks' impact on local roads and to help boost state revenue coffers which could mean more enforcement, he said.
He didn't win any converts from the group of protesters, though.
"I want a moratorium," Jet Miskis, a wildlife artist from Peters, told the governor. "I mean, can you explain to me why cattle are dying out here?"
Gas industry officials, legislative leaders and both gubernatorial candidates agree that a moratorium is a bad idea and has no chance for passage in the Legislature.
"I don't think there's support in the Senate," said Drew Crompton, spokesman for Senate President Pro Tem Joe Scarnati. "The moratorium idea has been out there for awhile now and it's never gotten any traction."
Spokesmen for state Attorney General Tom Corbett, the Republican nominee for governor, and Allegheny County Chief Executive Dan Onorato, the Democratic nominee, said the candidates agree with Mr. Rendell that a moratorium is a bad idea.
First Published September 8, 2010 12:00 am
