Letter: More shale taxes will hurt Pa.

ISSUE | MARCELLUS SHALE TAX

Additional expenses will hurt industry, state

Energy companies are laying off employees left and right. Pennsylvania won't continue to enjoy the billions of investment dollars it has received from companies developing shale gas in our commonwealth.

Reserved Environmental Services employs 70 Pennsylvanians, and 85 percent of our workforce is blue collar. We've postponed capital projects this year and cannot hire an additional 20 employees. And we are not alone. When the big boys halt capital investment, the little guys must follow suit.

Additional taxes on the shale industry, such as Gov. Wolf's proposed 6.5 percent levy on natural-gas drilling, couldn't come at a worse time. This state competes for energy-investment dollars. How can small businesses grow when additional taxes will further stifle investment?

Now's the time for elected officials who say they're for the "working man" to man up and join the fight. Stand up and provide a responsible and competitive fiscal framework that doesn't require workers to fight with both hands tied behind our backs.

|Nicholas S. Haden, vice president, marketing and governmental affairs,

Reserved Environmental Services, Bridgeville, Pa.