“The introduction of a tax [on oil and gas producers] does not mean higher prices for consumers, because producers have to take into account what consumers would tolerate.”
So says Lakshman D. Guruswamy, director of the University of Colorado's Center for Energy & Environmental Security in today’s Rocky Mountain News.
Guruswamy wants us to believe that a controversial proposed tax increase on Colorado’s energy producers won’t adversely impact consumers. But in the aftermath of recent announcements by leading oil and gas companies that they are bypassing Colorado in favor of states with more stable regulatory environments, we’re not convinced.
In Western Colorado, energy is the currency of entire communities, including Rifle—a once sleepy town now booming from the impact of new energy-related jobs.
If voters support the tax proposal championed by Gov. Bill Ritter this November, they’ll likely do so because they believe Ritter when he says that $200 million in severance taxes will help fund college scholarships, clean energy programs, and habitat rehabilitation projects.
That’s all fine and good, but if oil and gas companies leave Colorado for other states, we all may be left with a multi-billion dollar mess. Already, companies have diverted hundreds of millions in investment dollars to other states. This figure is just part of a larger devastation, including thousands of job losses and potential housing foreclosures that could hit western Colorado in coming years.
No higher prices for consumers? That remains to be seen, but for the thousands of Coloradans employed by oil and gas producers they must just find they won’t have a home left to heat.
