PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER:  Legislators in Harrisburg should resist the efforts of natural-gas companies to obtain a sweetheart deal of tax loopholes and lax drilling regulations.

The legislature has agreed to enact an extraction tax on methane wells by Oct. 1. Pennsylvania is the largest gas-producing state without such a tax to help pay for environmental protection and accident cleanups. It’s overdue.

But as the deadline approaches, natural-gas companies are demanding rules on their terms. They want generous exceptions to a fair tax system, and to write favorable land-use regulations that would govern their industry… (more)