On the recordJune 15, 2010
I voted for the Sanders amendment on tax incentives for oil and natural gas production to H.R. 4213, the Tax Extenders Act. Pennsylvania is in the midst of a historic boom in natural gas production from the Marcellus Shale formation. This industry is on track to create hundreds of thousands of jobs in the Commonwealth, and billions of dollars in revenue, both of which are badly needed in my home State. But the development of one natural resource must proceed with the utmost care for two others: water and land. I know that the natural gas industry desires to maintain the tax incentives which would be removed by the Sanders amendment. President Obama has also proposed removing these tax incentives in his fiscal year 2011 budget proposal. However, I cannot support further incentives for natural gas until that industry agrees to full public disclosure of the chemical composition of its hydraulic fracturing fluids, which are used to break apart the shale deep underground and initiate the gas flow.
