Texas Tribune – Shale Boom Has Major Impact on Texas' Budget

Increased shale development in Texas has helped business surge in the Lone Star State, providing jobs not just in the industry but across the service sectors. But the most significant effect may be seen in the revenue provided to the state, according to the paper.

Press Connects.com – New York Deserves a Fracking Chance

In a guest opinion piece, Dr. Charles Carpenter points out that as the debate over hydraulic fracturing continues in the Empire State, more than 800,000 New Yorkers are currently unemployed, and since 2001 at least 1.6 million people have left the state. That’s the highest number of any state in the country – but fracking could change that.

National Journal – U.S. Has Much, Much More Natural Gas and Oil... more »

You can’t help but feel empathy for New York state residents, struggling with high unemployment and low economic growth. Ads touting the “new” New York’s open-for-business attitude are airing nationally, trying to encourage new start-ups and to convince enterprises from other states to relocate in the Empire State.

Yet, the potential for dynamic economic growth and robust job creation is right under New Yorkers’ feet. The state’s Southern Tier counties sit atop the natural gas-rich Marcellus Shale – the same play that has fostered boom conditions in much of Pennsylvania.

But New York has had a moratorium on natural gas drilling – hydraulic fracturing – since 2008. The effect is a moratorium on shale energy jobs, shale energy economic growth and shale energy revenue for state and loca... more »

The Hill – Energy Taxes Are No Budget Solution

Steve Forbes writes on The Hill’s Congress Blog that higher taxes on the oil and natural gas industry would cost jobs, lower energy production and actually reduce revenue to government over time. He cites a study showing that “a new tax on the industry would sacrifice 170,000 direct and indirect energy jobs by 2014.”

Houston Chronicle – It’s Wrong to Penalize the Oil and Natural Gas Industry

“Singling out our oil and natural gas industry for taxation penalizes producers,” writes the newspaper. “Bad guys? You mean the folks who employ our neighbors in good-paying jobs, contribute mightily to our tax base, civic life and sports and cultural/arts scenes? We don't think so.”

Star-Tribune – How Fracking Transforms Fortunes, Land

AP phot... more »

Associate editor at The Atlantic Jordan Weissmann had a provocatively titled piece yesterday on taxes and the oil natural gas industry which may have generated some traffic, but it certainly did nothing to contribute to an honest debate.  His premise was to identify tax increases on the oil and natural gas industry as a: “safe ground to set up camp for the budget negotiations.”

The US imposes tax on net income, not gross income, which means that all businesses, whether they are farmers, manufacturers or oil companies, are allowed to deduct their normal business expenses from income in calculating their tax due.  Accordingly, the oil and gas industry is eligible for business deductions that are the same as or similar to those available to other taxpayers.  Contrary to what others may sa... more »

A pair of new Energy Tomorrow television commercials feature real people talking about the real effects of raising taxes on America’s oil and natural gas companies – as is being pushed by some in Washington. Two main points:

• Because our economy runs on oil and natural gas, higher taxes on oil and natural gas companies will slow it down.
• Because energy is central to the way Americans live, making energy more expensive by raising taxes on it amounts to a tax on all Americans.

As API executive vice president Marty Durbin noted in a call with reporters today:

The good news is that most of the public already “gets it.” For example, the Election Day poll we conducted showed more than two thirds of voters thought higher energy taxes were harmful and could increase energy costs.... more »