Hobbs Defends King Coal
The state GOP and the taxophobic Bill Hobbs are out with a press release sounding alarms about a bill to raise the state's coal severance tax.
"Democrats like to complain about rising energy costs, but this tax increase will do nothing but make things worse," said Bill Hobbs, communications director for the Tennessee Republican Party. "Increasing the coal severance tax won't just contribute to higher electric rates, it also will hurt coal miners, coal mining companies who do business in the state, and the workers at the barge companies that transport Tennessee coal to customers."
Hobbs fails to mention that the bill by Sen. Doug Jackson, a Dickson Democrat, might save wilderness areas from strip mining and would merely bring Tennessee's tax into line with other states. The Knoxville News-Sentinel reports Jackson would impose a tax on coal at 4.5 percent of its sales price, which is the same as Kentucky's tax. The current coal severance tax is a flat 20 cents per ton, unchanged since 1984.
"We have invested over $100 million in Sundquist Wildlife Management area," said Jackson, referring to state funds going toward purchase and operations at the 74,000-acre tract in Scott, Campbell and Anderson counties. While the state has purchased surface and timber rights, National holds the mineral rights."If a company is going to go in there and blast those mountaintops away, we at least don't need to be subsidizing it," he said. "Keeping a low tax encourages these companies to come and mine in Tennessee."
