sushimonster13 t1_iu6af74 wrote
Reply to comment by Matt-33-205 in Pa.’s natural gas industry set to get billions in state tax credits - The Allegheny Front by jayjaywalker3
The one assumption that you're making though is that all that money is going towards operations and not towards stock buy backs and other things that impact short term profitability. With private equity leeching into the private sector, there no longer is an incentive to remain profitable for the duration. Why spend 10 billion on operations when you can spend 3 billion on stock buy backs and somebody will take you private and make you rich.
I agree that you can't over tax businesses because they might just leave or become unsustainable ( china being a good example of government going to far ) but everyday consumers are struggling as well and they're the backbone of the entire economy. They need a break more than some natural gas company that may trickle down some benefits to the common folk.
Matt-33-205 t1_iu6ife4 wrote
I suppose we just fundamentally disagree. It's not an assumption, it's a certainty, if taxes are increased on energy companies, those taxes are passed along to the consumer in higher prices.
Additionally, the current Administration has created an environment that is very unfriendly, bordering on hostile, toward fossil fuel companies. The energy companies are reluctant to invest in expensive infrastructure improvements and expansions, when government can pull the plug at any time on permitting, such as Joe Biden did with the Keystone XL Pipeline his first day in office.
Bottom line, I'm not just giving talking points, this is real life stuff. Most people have no idea just how close we are to an energy catastrophe. Diesel Supply in the United States hasn't been this low in decades, and if those trucks stop moving, all hell will break loose in a few days.
Our government should be fostering an energy friendly business environment, it's cool to support green energy, but the problem is supporting the green movement while demonizing fossil fuels. The transition is going to take generations, it's not going to happen overnight. If everyone in the United States bought an electric car tomorrow, it would crash the electrical grid in this country. We need to be building new oil refineries, encouraging continued safe drilling and hydraulic fracturing with oversight, and do whatever is needed to ensure our own energy independence
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