State residents support shale gas tax, polls say
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New polls released this week show that Pennsylvanians still support imposing a natural gas severance tax, are concerned about the Marcellus Shale drilling process known as fracking and are more aware of the issues surrounding natural gas than their neighbors in New York.
In all, three polls concerning Marcellus Shale and clean drinking water issues were commissioned by the Civil Society Institute, a nonprofit think tank that has a focus on renewable energy: one was a national survey; one on Pennsylvanians; and one on New York and New York City residents.
In the Pennsylvania survey of 403 adults 18 or over questioned Nov. 26-30, a combined 67 percent said they would "strongly support" or "somewhat support" imposing a severance tax on the natural gas industry.
Those who favored the tax stretched across party lines, with 51 percent of Republicans, 68 percent of independents and 81 percent of Democrats saying they support such a tax.
Pennsylvania is the only natural gas producing state without a severance tax. One was supposed to be approved as part of a legislative budget deal between Democratic Gov. Ed Rendell and the Legislature, but the Republican-controlled Senate never approved a tax. Republican Gov.-elect Tom Corbett has said he would not support imposing a severance tax on the industry.
In another portion of the survey, in New York, which is also part of the Marcellus Shale natural gas area, only 60 percent of residents were "somewhat aware" or "very aware" about the fracking process -- which involves blasting millions of gallons of water treated with sand and chemicals about a mile below the surface, fracturing the shale rock to free trapped natural gas.
That compares with 70 percent of Pennsylvanians who were aware of the process. On another question, 79 percent of Pennsylvanians were "very concerned" or "somewhat concerned" about the fracking impact on water quality.
"Fracking is a perfect illustration of the fact that Americans don't think of an energy source as 'cheap' or 'clean' if there is a hidden price in terms of safe drinking water and human health," said Pam Solo, president of the Civil Society Institute.
Industry groups thought the survey was slanted against Marcellus Shale drilling.
"It's unfortunate that this organization purposely omitted such critical facts about shale gas development in its questions," Kathryn Klaber, president of the Marcellus Shale Coalition, which represents the industry in Pennsylvania, said in a statement, "particularly that hydraulic fracturing -- a 60 year-old technology that has been safely used to enhance energy production more than 1.1 million times -- has never impacted groundwater, which is confirmed by [the state Department of Environmental Protection, the federal Environmental Protection Agency] and the Groundwater Protection Council."
First Published December 23, 2010 12:00 am
