A natural-gas tax ticker for Pa.

Ever wonder how much Pennsylvania is losing in revenue by not charging a production tax on natural-gas drillers?

Wonder no more. The folks at the Pennsylvania Budget & Policy Center have devised a "ticker" that keeps track of the mounting revenue lost since Oct. 1, 2009, by not imposing a severance tax like other states. It's on the center's home page.

As of Thursday afternoon, the running tally was more than $54 million -- about $11,000 per hour. The left-leaning think tank notes that this money "could have funded vital state services including education and health care."

It could also help a bit with the state's looming budget deficit of $1.5 billion.