HARRISBURG — Today, the Republican Party of Pennsylvania released a web ad called “Time to Fight Back.” Chairman Rob Gleason issued the following statement:
“It’s time Pennsylvanians find out the truth about the Obama-Schwartz war on Pennsylvania energy and jobs. For Allyson Schwartz to announce a gas tax as her first major policy initiative shows how out of touch she is with an industry that sustains hundreds of thousands of Pennsylvania families. I have called on the Pennsylvania Democratic Party for weeks to stop their war on jobs, but the fact that I have not gotten any response shows how committed radical liberals like Allyson Schwartz are to destroy Pennsylvania’s energy industry.” Chairman Rob Gleason said.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rLA_I-1np-E
Click here to view the ad.
Background
Pennsylvania is Fourth in Coal
- “Pennsylvania is the fourth leading coal producing state, mining 68 million tons last year. (Pennsylvania Coal Alliance, accessed 10/8/2013)
Pennsylvania Energy Fuels Job Creation
- “According to federal statistics, job growth in the oil and gas industry has increased by 40 percent over a six-year period, while jobs in the private sector have increased by 1 percent.” (Newell, Michele. Marcellus Shale Fuels Job Creation In Pa. CBS Pittsburgh. 8/13/2013)
- “The fastest 12 growing occupations in Pennsylvania are all directly related to Marcellus Shale,’ said Sue Mukherjee, director of workforce development for the state’s Department of Labor and Industry. The number of employees in the core oil and gas industries in Pennsylvania has more than doubled in the last three years. Mukherjee said the number of new hires who come from within the state has increased to 74 percent. The numbers are enough to make Mukherjee’s boss — Secretary of Labor and Industry Julia Hearthway — veer into hyperbole. It’s “a tsunami of jobs,” Hearthway said Tuesday at a media event in the capitol sponsored by the gas industry. (Gilliland, Donald. Marcellus Shale industry brings ‘tsunami of jobs’ to Pa. Patriot News. 12/10/2011.)
- “The Marcellus shale drilling boom is living up to its supporters’ optimistic assessments and is rearranging the national landscape, putting Pennsylvania in competition with Alaska and Louisiana to be the country’s second-biggest gas producer in 2013. Pennsylvania has shot from seventh in 2011, according to state and federal data, and clearly trails only Texas.” (Puko, Timothy. Pennsylvania vies for being No. 2 U.S. gas producer. Tribune Review. 8/16/2013.)
- “The shale boom has buoyed Pittsburgh’s energy sector, steadily rising to 46,644 employees in 2012, up a more than a third since 2005, according an assessment of federal data released Friday by Pittsburgh Today, a research affiliate of the University of Pittsburgh.” (Puko, Timothy. Pennsylvania vies for being No. 2 U.S. gas producer. Tribune Review. 8/16/2013.)
- “According to a study sponsored by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, shale development is predicted to create at least 220,000 jobs for the state by 2020, and 397,000 jobs by 2035. Furthermore, it estimates shale energy will provide Pennsylvania with more than $60 billion in state and local government revenue from 2012-2035. Gene Barr, president and CEO of the Pennsylvania Chamber of Business and Industry, said that “The billions in state and local revenue will help support schools and infrastructure, while the hundreds of thousands of jobs will support families across the commonwealth.” (Mikus, Mike. Shale could lead way to economic recovery. Times Tribune. 6/22/2013.)
Obama’s War on Coal Will Kill Jobs
- “The Environmental Protection Agency’s proposed rule, set to come out Friday morning, fulfills a key promise to President Barack Obama’s environmental base — while offering a potent line of attack for Republicans in 2014. It kicks off a major effort by Obama’s agencies to tackle climate change without waiting for help from Congress. The White House-vetted proposal would impose strict pollution standards requiring future coal-burning plants to capture and store at least 40 percent their carbon emissions, according to information provided to POLITICO late Thursday. Obama’s critics say the emerging technology is too expensive and amounts to a ban on building coal plants.” (Martinson, Erica. Coal in President Obama’s climate cross hairs. Politico. 9/19/2013.)
- “According to the Wall Street Journal, the Environmental Protection Agency will propose new rules next week banning the construction of new coal power plants in the United States that do not meet expensive new and ridiculous efficiency standards. The new standards will force power plants underground, literally… And of course, this hurts the middle class and poor people the most not only through an increase in utility costs but through job losses.” (Pavlich, Katie. EPA to De Facto Ban All Construction of New Coal Power Plants. Townhall. 9/12/2013.)
- “The Environmental Protection Agency likely will require that new coal-fired plants trap and store their carbon pollution, a mandate that would virtually block construction if coal ever again becomes competitive with gas, several wire services reported. “In some sense, it closes a door pre-emptively,” said Julien Dumoulin-Smith, an analyst at UBS in New York who follows Western Pennsylvania’s biggest power companies.” (Puko, Timothy. EPA’s proposed new regulations could keep coal industry reeling. Tribune Review. 9/13/2013.)
- “If you prohibit the creation of the new coal power plant by demanding technology that’s not commercially available and then next year, you come back with a standard that says you need to retrofit, retrofit won’t occur,” Pippy says. “What will occur is premature retirement and when those plants retire then you’re going to see skyrocketing costs of energy as well as a tremendous impact on the jobs.” If that happens, Pippy says more coal-fired power plants will shut down which has already started happening in Pennsylvania. Eight of the state’s coal plants are getting ready to close. Last week, Reuters reported 380 people will lose their jobs when the Hatfield’s Ferry and Mitchell power plants shut down early next month, citing the cost of complying with emissions standards and the nationwide move to natural gas-fired electricity. (Colaneri, Katie. How Will EPA’s New Carbon Limits Impact Coal In PA? NPR. 9/25/2013.)
- “Coal-country Democrats aren’t eager to talk about the Environmental Protection Agency’s new emission regulations for power plants expected to be released later this week, which could put them in a tough position between the pressures of regional politics and party loyalty…Other coal-country candidates—including Rep. Allyson Schwartz, D-Pa., a candidate for governor in her state, and West Virginia Secretary of State Natalie Tennant, a Senate hopeful—also did not offer comment on the new standards.” (Brown, Alex. “Coal-Country Democrats Nervously Await EPA Regulations for Power-Plant Emissions”. National Journal. 9/18/2013)
Pennsylvania Democratic Party Supports Banning Fracking, Despite Economic Benefits
- “Party officials voted last weekend 115-81 in favor of the resolution asking for the open-ended ban. Proponents argued that fracking was savaging the environment by polluting the state’s water supply.” (Vickers, Rob. Rendell: Pa. Democrats’ call for fracking moratorium ‘ill-advised’. Patriot News. 6/21/2013.)
- “To implement a moratorium on hydraulic fracturing at this time would create immense burdens and significant adverse impacts on the Commonwealth and the citizens of Pennsylvania with no discernible gain.” (Gergely, Rep. Marc., Dermody, Democratic Minority Leader Frank et al. Letter to PA Democrats Chairman Jim Burn. Pennsylvania House of Representatives. 7/15/2013.)
Schwartz Would Make Gas Tax a Priority, Following Her Party’s Lead to Demonize Pennsylvania Energy
- “Allyson Schwartz, a leading democratic candidate for governor in 2014, offered up a plan Wednesday that would slap a 5 percent tax on the natural gas being extracted by energy companies from deeply-buried shale formations in the state. Gov. Tom Corbett has adamantly opposed such a fee. The tax, on production, would go on top of the current impact fee, which is assessed by well. It was the Schwartz campaign’s first policy roll-out.” (Kraus, Scott. Schwartz Would Make Gas Tax a Priority. Morning Call. 9/4/2013.)
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