Maryland House Votes to Tax Non-Existent Shale Drilling

From the “things that amuse us from Maryland” file: The Maryland House of Delegates passed a vote on a severance tax on shale gas drilling in the state. They generously reduced the original proposal from a 15 percent tax down to 7.5 percent. Thing is, there is no shale gas drilling in the state and there won’t be until 2014 at the earliest when a report commissioned by Gov. Martin O'Malley is due. And it’s a big “if” as to whether or not Maryland will ever allow drilling. The House seems awfully eager to tax something they haven’t even decided they will allow.

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