Now’s not time to slap tax on Pa.’s growing energy

To the Times: As the state continues to grapple with persistent budget issues year after year, some have continued to call for an additional tax on the energy industry. Yet these calls continue to ignore that the state’s unemployment rate has been above the national average for the past two years, with job losses coming from blue-collar jobs, like those in the skilled trades, construction, mining and manufacturing.

Using our domestic energy resources will help us become more secure in an increasingly insecure world, as well as build a stable economy for many.

Economic growth will put the state on a path to sustainability; a severance tax will not – in fact, punitive taxes on one of the brighter spots of our economy would set us backward.

Building markets here in Pennsylvania and abroad for our energy resources should be the focus. We have the capability to use all our natural resources – including coal, gas, nuclear, wind and solar – to attract new investment – not just in manufacturing, but in new and emerging markets, such as the technology sector, data processing, robotics, alternative-fuel vehicles and more. Cheap and abundant energy allows our state and country to compete

As Pennsylvania ages and our youngest and brightest minds leave the state, this state needs policies that will drive innovation and jobs, not chase them away. on a global basis. on the basis of race is to stop discriminating on the basis of race” rings true?

People must remember when they callously say to return immigrants to where they came from, that they themselves would not be in the U.S. if their ancestors were driven back to their respective birth countries.

Nonetheless, I mean entering the U.S. legally as opposed to illegally, which is a crime. I am not condoning a criminal act; I am, however, anathema to discrimination based on perceived race or country of origin like Mr. Batory, who was discriminated against solely because of his Polish ancestry. It is meaningless and has no bearing on a person’s job qualification nor genetic make-up for medical purposes.

So why do we continue completing these forms in employers’ and doctors’ offices regarding our race and ethnicity? Maybe because we do not want to be discriminated for not filling out this category.

George Aiken, U.S. senator (1892-1984) once said, “If we were to wake up some morning and find that everyone was the same race, creed and color, we would find some other causes for prejudice by noon.” How sad indeed!