American Oil and Gas Reporter - May 2016 - 94

ConventionCoverage: Pennsylvania Independent Oil & Gas Association
the state's courts halting the expenditure
of funds until the legislature and Governor
Wolf can agree on legislation directing
appropriations, which he opined wasn't
likely to occur unless the governor got
the taxes he wanted.
Of direct consequence to the oil and
gas industry, Gmerek pointed out the
fiscal code bill contained language to
block the DEP's Chapter 78 regulations,
which were scheduled to be voted on by
the state's Independent Regulatory Review
Commission later in April. At the time of
PIOGA's convention, the legislature had
sent Governor Wolf a new fiscal code
bill. "I don't know whether he will sign
it," Gmerek remarked. "But it doesn't
have our language in it. (Lawmakers)
took out everything Governor Wolf cited
as reasons why he vetoed prior fiscal
bills, such as our Chapter 78 language."
With Democrats holding a majority at
the IRRC, "the only way to stop those
regulations at this point may be through
the courts," Gmerek advised.
With the dust not yet settled on the
current-year budget, Gmerek reported
both sides had begun posturing for FY

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94 THE AMERICAN OIL & GAS REPORTER

2017, which begins July 1. He said the
governor was again proposing a 6.5
percent severance tax as part of a $3.0
billion tax package.
Although Republicans rejected Wolf's
severance tax plans the first two years of
his term, Gmerek warned, "There are
some who think we have to take this
issue off the table before the elections;
that we have to do some kind of tax to
get rid of the political issue."
But for the Wolf administration, it is
not merely a question of money, held
Gmerek, who likened the governor's ideology to Democratic presidential candidate
Bernie Sanders' call for an end to fossil
fuels. As proof, Gmerek cited an op-ed
published by Wolf's former Secretary of
Policy John Hanger the day before PIOGA's meeting.
In it, Hanger calls the oil and gas industry "sycophants (who) fight a drilling
tax, blast reasonable proposals to cut
methane emissions and to strengthen
drilling safety, shortchange some royalty
owners, and often stonewall mistakes instead of owning them."
Among the other charges Hanger
makes, Gmerek said:
* "Gas drilling is an industrial practice
that brings spills, traffic, local air pollution
and other burdens (such as) earthquakes.
* "The gas industry . . . behaves as
though it is perfect, and denies, minimizes
(and) stonewalls mistakes or downsides.
* "The industry is its own worst enemy, and is on a collision course with an
iceberg that will (e)nsure for itself and
others much worse times ahead."
PIOGA Public Outreach
All of which make PIOGA's education
efforts that much more important, insisted
Dan Weaver, the association's director of
public outreach. He described a threepronged approach that focused on the
public, "politicians on multiple levels,"
and students.
For government officials, Weaver said
PIOGA had prepared talking points on key
issues. For example, he said PIOGA's severance tax talking points included the corporate income, sales and motor fuel taxes
the industry paid already, as well as the Act
13 impact tax on unconventional wells.
A price matrix explains the market
conditions facing Pennsylvania producers
by detailing the expenses-from royalties
to transportation and processing, as well
as general and administrative-that must
be subtracted from a well's revenue stream.

PIOGA Director of Public Outreach Dan
Weaver updates members on the association's public, governmental and student education programs during the
association's spring meeting.

Another document discusses overreliance
on any given segment of the economy,
Weaver continued. "What happens when
that commodity fluctuates?" he posed. "A
lot of states are dealing with that today."
He encouraged PIOGA members to
tell "the human side of our story." When
discussing the industry downturn, he advised, too often industry spokesmen will
say, "We lost 600 jobs." Instead, Weaver
encouraged oilmen to say, "600 families
lost an income. They need to realize we
aren't just corporations; we are people."
Turning to PIOGA's classroom efforts,
Weaver reported that in March, the Pennsylvania Energy Education Program was
certified as a 501(c)3 charity. Thus far,
he said, the association has trained 174
teachers in 24 counties, through which it
has provided energy education focused
on oil and natural gas to 31,000 students.
"All the segments tie together," he finished. "We train the students. The students
talk with their parents. The parents talk
to politicians. Politicians have to fund
the schools."
❒

Coming In June
Coverage of the Texas Alliance of
Energy Producers' annual meeting,
held April 19-20 at the Multipurpose
Events Center in Wichita Falls.

American Oil and Gas Reporter - May 2016

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