Kathleen Sgamma, Western Energy Alliance, recaps her testimony before the legislative hearing mistitled Fossil Fuel Development: Protecting Taxpayers and Eliminating Industry Giveaways before the House Natural Resources Subcommittee on the Energy and Mineral Resources regarding natural gas.
Sgamma testifies “Now Congress is considering legislation designed to decrease American production, not consumption, of oil and natural gas by adding more cost and red tape onto federal lands. Adding more cost has the same effect as taxes: if you want less of something, tax it more. These bills collectively would add more cost directly through higher taxes, i.e., the royalty, bid and rental rates; bonding requirements; civil penalties; and duplicative regulatory red tape. The effect would be to further erode the competitiveness of federal public lands, causing production to shift to nonfederal areas where possible, and disadvantaging states like New Mexico, Wyoming and Utah, and many rural communities throughout the West. And of course the federal treasury would receive depressed revenue from industry. That doesn’t sound like protection of the taxpayer to me.”
