Charlie Dent Misleads On Marcellus Shale.

You'll have to forgive me. When I first saw the video of Charlie Dent saying he didn't support a FRACK Act, and saying the questioner needed to take it up with state officials, I found that answer to be reasonable. My understanding was that this was a state issue, and was being played out in Harrisburg. Apparently, I, and Congressman Dent, are wrong.

One of the major problems with fracking was caused by Congressional action. From LVI:

Noel Jones asked Charlie Dent to sign Bob Casey's FRAC Act and he refused. The FRAC Act would close the Halliburton loophole from the 2005 Bush Energy bill that exempts natural gas drilling from pollution regulations.

Now, I know that there may be Senatorial politics playing in this. The 2005 Bush Energy Bill was one of Dent's first votes, and it of course, gave these "frackers" the rights to not care about pollution. Yes, that's FEDERAL action.

Let me be clear here, the same as with state politicians who say an "extraction tax" will kill jobs, your argument is bunk: natural gas companies are not going to "pass" on this huge supply of gas, just because they have to follow rules and pay in some money so that we don't get run over in this. These companies are stretching our infrastructure in central PA thin, they are polluting our water, and they are making BILLIONS doing it. It's not too much to ask to have them pay our state a tax for that profit. It's not too much to ask that they don't pollute our state free of penalty. None of this kills jobs.