Let oil, natural gas lead state’s recovery

his year has been good for Oklahoma’s economy. In the first two months, the energy industry created 2,800 jobs and the drilling rig count reached the highest point in two years. In areas with active drilling, the unemployment rate has decreased by 2 percent.

To keep this momentum, the Legislature must avoid job-killing tax hikes. Raising taxes is a short-sighted move with continuing low oil and natural gas prices. A tax increase could cause the industry to move investment dollars to other Tier 1 energy states, including Texas.

Rather than increasing taxes again on the oil and natural gas industry, the state should allow us to continue to lead the economic recovery. Job creation and new capital investments will generate new revenue over the long term and break the cycle of state revenue shortfalls.

For 2017, the most active operators in the state have committed $5.5 billion in capital investments. This will support an estimated 30,000 direct jobs and 165,000 indirect jobs and generate millions in new revenue. It’s estimated private and smaller oil and natural gas companies will spend an additional $1 billion this year.

Oklahoma is attracting these large investments in part because of the state’s transparent and permanent two-tiered gross production tax structure, which became law in 2014. This law placed expiration dates on oil and natural gas rebates, most of which ended in 2015. The system also doubled the tax on new horizontal wells.

Oklahoma hasn’t yet fully seen the revenue potential of this new tax structure. As the law was being implemented in 2015, the price of oil collapsed, falling below $20 a barrel in early 2016. Nationally, rig counts dropped to the lowest number in seven decades. In Oklahoma, drilling activity declined by 55 percent between January 2015 and January 2017.

Oklahoma’s tax structure was a key component in our state faring better than others. Texas’ drilling activity declined by 57 percent, New Mexico’s by 58 percent, California’s by 68 percent and North Dakota’s by 78 percent.

Thanks in large part to the evolution of horizontal drilling practices and a modest recovery in prices, the oil and natural gas industry has increased its 2017 investment to drill new wells, and many companies plan to continue this upsurge into 2018 and 2019. Oklahomans are being rehired in the energy sector, and the economic activity is allowing businesses to open or expand where development is taking place. The 150,000 Oklahomans employed by the oil and natural gas industry depend on our state’s schools, roads and other public services. We want these services to be adequately funded. We are also the highest-taxed industry in the state. When other Oklahoma industries pay $1 in taxes per employee, the oil and natural gas industry pays $4 in taxes per employee.

Taxing the oil and natural gas industry more is not the answer. Let growth fuel the state’s prosperity.

Science debate

Hats off to state Sen. Rob Standridge (Point of View, April 8) for supporting Senate Bill 393, which would let Oklahoma teachers teach “healthy skepticism” about evolution and other “existing scientific theories.” This is excellent news for my own scientific discovery that the earth is hollow, which up to now science teachers have persisted in ignoring, and refused my invitations to open debate. What are the solid-earthers afraid of? In the words of the bill itself, why not devote class time to “objectively assess” the “strengths and weaknesses” of the establishment’s beloved solid-earth theory? Godspeed, Sen. Standridge. For surely, without this badly needed bill our schools and our state might become ... a laughingstock.

Did he mean to say that?

In discussing state budget concerns, Mike Mazzei (Point of View, April 9) said that “expenses must match expected recurring revenues.” All the companies I worked for tried very hard to keep expenses below revenues. The difference is called “profit” and without it, companies cannot stay in business. Another admonition states “Spending rises to match income.” The above statement is even worse. Paraphrasing, “spend every penny you expect to get.”

I hope he didn’t intend to say that.

Science vs. faith

Senate Bill 393, “The Oklahoma Science and Education Act,” purports to allow Oklahoma science teachers to encourage “critical thinking skills and respond appropriately and respectfully to differences of opinion about controversial issues.” Its intent is not “to promote any religious or non-religious doctrine.” Oh no? If a high school student challenges her geology teacher and says the earth is 6,000 years old because the Bible says so, this law compels her teacher to recognize her religious stance as “critical thinking.” Sen. Rob Standridge, R-Norman, has called such a challenge healthy skepticism. He has likened any challenge to prevailing science to the skepticism of Galileo and Einstein. But Galileo employed scientific observation to refute the teachings of Roman Catholicism, and Einstein employed science to revise prevailing theories of physics.

All scientific theories can be disproven by evidence. Faith-based narratives cannot. Our Constitution guarantees that all citizens are free to follow their own religious beliefs, including beliefs that contradict prevailing science. Any science teacher can respectfully point this out. The Bible says faith is “the evidence of things not seen.” However fine and transcendent, faith is not the same as science, which is the evidence of things that are seen: planets, weather, microwaves, bacteria, viruses, radioactivity and fossils.

Time to clone?

Regarding “State needs changes in financial management” (Point of View, April 9): It is downright exciting to know there is someone who can put his finger on the reason our state is in a disastrous financial crisis. We should clone Mike Mazzei and put him in every state and federal office.

It’s disgusting the way taxpayers’ money is handed out to special-interest groups and to pad budgets that get approved year after year. Politicians must think the public is stupid when they say increased taxes and spending cuts for the poor are the only ways to pay our bills. Tom Coburn and James Lankford have addressed the blatant waste and good ol’ boy methods of spending to no avail.

If our politicians can’t get the financial mess fixed, Mazzei’s approach to the problem would certainly be welcomed. As a last resort, maybe we should send our politicians to Dave Ramsey’s Financial Peace University program. It has certainly helped thousands of people solve their budget problems.