"Gas industry pumping in funds"

By Gary Weckselblatt, Intelligencer, May 12, 2010:

GOP gubernatorial candidate Tom Corbett has received the most from the industry - $361,000.


The national gas industry is betting that Republican Tom Corbett will be the next governor. But it is hedging its bet by also fortifying the campaign coffers of Democrats Dan Onorato and Jack Wagner.

Corbett, endorsed by the state GOP in the May 18 primary, has collected $361,000 in contributions from the industry, significantly more than Onorato ($59,000) or Wagner ($45,000).

The numbers were released Tuesday by the Common Cause Education Fund along with a study titled "Deep Drilling, Deep Pockets," which highlights the power of campaign contributions and lobbying regarding the Marcellus Shale gas play.

The government watchdog group tracked nearly $2.9 million in contributions to Pennsylvania candidates from January 2001 through March of this year, and $4.2 million in lobbying expenditures since the commonwealth began requiring lobbyist reporting in 2007.

The study, written by Alex Kaplan and James Browning, takes the state to task for being one of 11 that does not limit campaign contributions. It also describes the state's online campaign contribution database as "not fully searchable or sortable, so that a search for contributions from a particular interest that might take minutes in another state could take hundreds of hours in Pennsylvania.

The failure to limit campaign contributions and make the information truly accessible, they argue, allows "big political donors (to) wield extraordinary influence over the political process."

"The stakes on Marcellus Shale are huge for our environment," Browning said Tuesday. "Will the state tax it like other states do? The scary thing is this is just the beginning of a wave because interest in Marcellus has just picked up."

Locally, state Sen. Tommy Tomlinson, R-6, received the most industry money during the past decade, taking in $12,600. That ranked the vice chairman of the appropriations committee 23rd overall in industry contributions.

Other lawmakers getting campaign cash include state Sen. Chuck McIlhinney, R-10, ($1,000), state Rep. Bernie O'Neill, R-29, ($1,000) and state Rep. Bob Godshall, R-53, ($900).

Recently retired state Rep. Tony Melio, D-141, ($650) and former state Sen. Joe Conti, R-10, ($800) also received funds.

"It's so de minimis, I didn't even know they gave it to me," Tomlinson said of the campaign money. "It wasn't even on my radar screen."

He said "everyone wants drilling done right environmentally. We realize it's going to have a very big economic impact on the state.

"It's too big an issue to allow any amount of money to not make sure this is handled properly. Nothing they give me would have an influence on my vote anyway."

Though Gov. Ed Rendell ($84,000) has gotten the sixth highest cash total, Republicans received 84 percent of industry contributions.

Last week the Democratic-controlled state House passed a three-year moratorium on leasing state lands for natural gas drilling. If the Senate follows suit, it would give the state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources time to assess the impact of drilling.

Gov. Rendell said Tuesday that he would sign the bill if it reaches his desk.

Rendell took a stand on the legislation after announcing a $120 million deal giving Houston-based Anadarko Petroleum Corp. the right to drill on 33,000 acres in north central Pennsylvania - mostly land surrounded by leased tracts that already are being used for gas operations - that lies over the Marcellus Shale formation.

The Anadarko payment and the expected carry-over of $68 million in lease revenue from the fiscal year that ends June 30 will surpass state officials' target of $180 million in drilling revenue to help balance the 2010-11 state budget, Rendell said.

"This is a reasonable approach that meets our revenue targets and limits the impact of additional natural-gas exploration in our state forests," he said.

Rendell is advocating a severance tax on natural gas extracted in Pennsylvania to cash in on Marcellus Shale, after conceding that debate in last year's budget negotiations.

Barry Kauffman, executive director of Common Cause, said the gas industry "has been getting its way in public policy battles."

In a press release, he cited last year's difficult budget deliberations where "the industry successfully fought off attempts to impose a severance tax similar to those in all other states with major drilling operations. The industry also secured access to coveted state-owned lands for drilling.

"Time will tell if the industry's gains become unjustifiable, even dangerous burdens on Pennsylvania residents and taxpayers."

The Associated Press contributed to this story.