Peak Oil is You
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Page added on May 24, 2014
What is peak oil, and will fracking buy us time?
PBS NewsHour economics correspondent Paul Solman speaks with former big pharma executive Chris Martenson about why the money the U.S. printed after the financial crash would have been better spent on alternative energy rather than on the banks.
2 Comments on "What is peak oil, and will fracking buy us time?"
rockman on Sat, 24th May 2014 7:57 am
A pretty good discussion. Just one glaring error about Texas and PA being stuck with big road repair bills. While PA foolishly collects no oil/NG Texas has always. Besides road maintenance the severance taxes have significant supplemented the entire Texas university system. In addition to what the states collect the individual counties collect a property tax on all oil/NG fields.
So how well is Texas being compensated? Just takes a bit of the $3.4 BILLION collected in just one year to patch those pot holes. Shame on those PA politicians:
Texas Comptroller Susan Combs announced some good news: the state’s severance tax receipts have exceeded prior estimates by $900 million for Fiscal Year 2013. In January of this year, in her biennial revenue estimate, Combs predicted oil and gas severance taxes would generate nearly $3.4 billion, which means the updated figures are a 27 percent increase in taxes generated from oil and gas production. A copy of Combs’ letter here.
So, what does the sudden increase in tax revenue mean for Texans?
By state law, three quarters of oil and gas severance taxes are deposited into the Rainy Day Fund, meaning $675 million will be dedicated to the fund and $225 million will be available for general-purpose spending. The additional taxes mean more funds available for roads, schools, and other infrastructure.
The state did not waste any time putting the money to use, either. Just yesterday, after three special sessions, the Texas Legislature finally passed a measure to increase transportation funding by $1.2 billion per year. If approved by voters in 2014, the legislation calls for the state to begin diverting some oil and gas production tax revenue currently earmarked for the Rainy Day Fund to road construction and maintenance.
J-Gav on Sat, 24th May 2014 2:27 pm
Again, thanks for the info Rockman.
Bears out what my brother in Midland has been telling me …
Can’t help but wonder though, if some of those transportation dollars might be better spent on beefing up the rail system rather than going all-out on roads (I’ve seen some of the highway boondoggling in El Paso).