Last Month, Secretary Chu Says Hydraulic Fracturing Done “Safely, Responsibly”; This Month, Chu Can’t Seem to Remember That
FLASHBACK: “I have no information that states aren’t doing a good job already [regulating fracturing],” Steve Heare, director of EPA’s Drinking Water Protection Division said … He also said despite claims by environmental organizations, he hadn’t seen any documented cases that the hydro-fracking process was contaminating water supplies.” (Dow Jones, 2/15/10)
US Shale Gas Revolution, Enabled by Hydraulic Fracturing, Generating Jobs, Reviving Old Train Towns – Exactly What Jethro Tull Had in Mind
We all know that safe, responsible, well-regulated natural gas production from dense, shale rock formations is helping to drive down energy prices and foreign dependence, and creating a heck of a lot of good-paying jobs, too. Hydraulic fracturing – a 60-year old energy stimulation technique used in 9 out of 10 wells nationwide – is the technological linchpin to unlocking the nearly 100 years of clean-burning, homegrown natural gas supplies. The fluids used in the fracturing process are made up of more than 99.5 percent water and sand. And as gas production continues to expand throughout Pennsylvania’s Marcellus shale – considered to be the world’s second largest natural gas reservoir – the demand for sand and freight rail to move equipment continues to increase.
Yesterday’s Williamsport (PA) Sun-Gazette reports this under the headline “Marcellus Shale exploration credited in need for new locomotives”:
The Wellsboro and Corning Railroad took delivery of four SD 40-2 locomotives last month, and the burgeoning Marcellus Shale natural gas industry is the main reason the powerful locomotives are needed.
According to Tom Myles IV, chief financial officer of the Myles Group, owners of the railroad, “The additional power is necessary to support the demands of the growing gas related industries in Pennsylvania. Because the need for transportation of gas-related products is so great, we have added the locomotives to increase the ability to run longer, more economical and environmentally sound trains.”
The Wilkes-Barre (PA) Times Leader reports this recently in a story entitled “Old Duryea railroad yard taking on new life; Rail cars of sand to be used in Marcellus Shale natural gas extraction get a home”:
Investment spurred by Marcellus Shale natural gas exploration has transformed an antiquated, weed-ridden rail yard just north of Pittston into a state-of-the-art transloading terminal teeming with rail and trucking activity on an almost daily basis.
Over the last year, Reading & Northern Railroad Co. sunk $100,000 into Pittston Yard, laying new track to accommodate 100 new rail cars and constructing a facility to store and hold up to 800 cars of sand to be used in hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking,” operations at Marcellus Shale drill sites throughout Northeastern Pennsylvania, said Reading & Northern President Warren A. Michel.
“The reason for our success is that we are the largest facility in the region capable of handling hundreds of rail cars of sand. We now have 130 (sand) rail cars at the yard and we’ll be expanding substantially over the next six months,” Michel said.
The company rewarded its full-time employees for their work on the project and throughout last year with an extra week of paid vacation this year and a paid trip to their choice of either Disney World; Branson, Mo.; Williamsburg, Va.; London; or a cruise.
Because of a number of factors including the Marcellus Shale drilling industry, Reading & Northern has hired 10 new employees over the last two months.
And last week, the Philadelphia Inquirer reports that “Marcellus Shale sends short-line railroad booming.” This from the Inquirer’s Andrew Maykuth:
Nobody knew there was gold in the sand.
When A.T. “Tom” Myles approached officials in this town three years ago about taking over the ailing Wellsboro & Corning Railroad, he thought the 35-mile short line had potential for transporting lumber to market from northern Pennsylvania.
But that was before the Marcellus Shale natural-gas boom took off and exploration companies were clambering to import sand into Pennsylvania – millions of pounds of special sand used to develop gas wells.
“I didn’t even know about the sand when I came in here. I just wanted the railway,” said Myles, 65, a fourth-generation railroader from Exton. He is chief executive of the Myles Group, a collection of companies his family owns and operates from Chester County.
Maykuth notes that the uptick in freight rail demand from the Marcellus shale is creating jobs:
In the two years since Myles took over the Wellsboro & Corning line, cargo traffic has nearly tripled, to 849 railcars last year, the most in its modern history. In a recession, Myles has hired 10 people to transfer sand from the cars into trucks.
He anticipates that business will nearly double this year, to 1,600 railcars. Almost all of that is sand used in hydraulic fracturing, the process that shatters the dense Marcellus Shale under high pressure to unlock its stores of natural gas.
The gas industry’s huge appetite for what is known as “frack sand” has spurred a rebirth for the struggling railroad, whose previous operator gave up just before the gas boom.
Michael Ming, president of Research Partnership to Secure Energy for America, tells CNN that “We’ve basically won the lottery,” when it comes to American shale gas. He’s right – we have. More affordable, cleaner energy; less dependence on unstable regions of the world to fuel our economy; and tens of thousands of good-paying jobs – who’d be against that? We could think of a few folks who continue to distort facts and lodge baseless attacks on American energy producers, especially as it relates to fracturing technologies. But here are the facts.
Donald Siegel, a Syracuse earth sciences professor who holds a PhD in hydrogeology, writes this in yesterday’s Binghamton (NY) Press & Sun-Bulletin in a column entitled “Unfounded fears obscure facts; Public needs to understand science behind shale’s potential”:
The long-term history of gas production and the science behind it show that recent public fears of hydro-fracking are misplaced.
The water in rock thousands of feet deep is disconnected from our lakes, rivers and shallow aquifers. Hydro-fracking cannot break through these thousands of feet of rock all the way up to reach shallow aquifers.
Organic compounds in hydro-frack, flow-back water naturally biodegrade, are miniscule when measured, and trivial when considered in the context of how much raw boat fuel discharges every year in New York waters from inefficient outboard motors.
And Scott Cline, a petroleum engineering PhD, writes this in recent Binghamton (NY) Press & Sun-Bulletin op-ed under the headline “Hydraulic Fracturing Fluid Will Not Contaminate NY Drinking Water”:
The rare cases of increased water well methane that everyone gets excited about are not related to the horizontal drilling and fracture stimulation specifically. Rarely, naturally occurring very shallow gas zones create problems when cementing surface casing in any type of well whether vertical or horizontal which can lead to the shallow gas zone bleeding into aquifers. This is rare, can be fixed with re-cementing and the methane and water turbulence will dissipate over time. DEC will require strict surface casing procedures and certification. Absolutely no frac fluid is entering the USDW from the fracture process.
EID Fact Checks Philadelphia’s Anti-Natural Gas, Anti-Hydraulic Fracturing Resolution
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Town spokesman calls independent findings “positive news for all Flower Mound residents”
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EID letter to Kerry, Graham & Lieberman lays out the facts on hydraulic fracturing, importance of technology in fueling America’s shale gas revolution
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EID Fact Check: Congressman Hinchey Talks HF on CNBC, Checks Facts at the Door
CNBC’s Cramer on EPA’s new HF study: “Even though we can’t find a single documented case of groundwater contamination caused by hydraulic fracturing, I’m concerned this could be the beginning of process that creates more regulatory hurdles for natural gas companies, and makes it more difficult to drill in the United States.”
Cramer: “Steve Heare is the EPA’s director of drinking water protection. He recently said that the states our ‘doing a good job already regulating hydraulic fracturing,’ and he added that there is no evidence to suggest the process contaminates water … He would seem to be a knowledgeable figure. He’s the drinking water protection person at the EPA.”
WASHINGTON – Now we know why they call it “Mad” Money. Yesterday afternoon, U.S. Rep. Maurice Hinchey (D-N.Y) appeared on Jim Cramer’s CNBC financial show to discuss shale gas exploration, hydraulic fracturing, and his ongoing and very active efforts to prevent clean-burning, American made shale gas resources from being produced in New York, or anywhere else.
Actually, Rep. Hinchey disputed that characterization of his intent, offered up throughout by the host. In reality, he said, he’s just interested in “making sure that drilling occurs” and that the exploration process “is not impinged upon” – notwithstanding that his bill, known as the FRAC Act, would impede efforts to safely explore for natural gas in the very best case, and outright ban those efforts in the worst (and most plausible) case.
Keep in mind, this is the same congressman who suggested to one online writer that “very substantial economic elements,” and sinister ones at that, were involved in exploiting the shale gas revolution “for their own economic advantages.” And oh yeah, this is also the fella who once famously said: “I do not think that relying on foreign oil impacts our security. I would hope…that there might be a new approach to this whole issue and that approach would essentially mean let us import as much [energy] as we possibly can.” Yikes.
That aside, let’s see how the congressman’s latest performance holds up under an EID fact check:
HINCHEY CLAIM
“A significant portion of the Clean Water Drinking Act [sic.] was repealed in 2005. And that provision in 2005 said that people who are drilling don’t have to tell anybody what they’re putting into the ground.”
FACT
The bipartisan 2005 energy bill, supported by then Sen. Barack Obama, clarified that Congress never intended hydraulic fracturing to be regulated under Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA). If Congress ever intended the SDWA to extend beyond its original scope and cover the fracturing of energy wells, it certainly had plenty of chances to make that view known.
Passed in 1974, SDWA has been amended a whopping eight separate times over the past 35 years (’74, ’77, ’79, ‘80, ‘86, ‘88, ’96, ‘05), but at no time during that extended run was the concept of regulating fracturing under the Act a significant component of the debate. And that’s true even though at the time of the bill’s passage in ‘74, fracturing had already been in commercial use for 25 years.
What’s changed in 35 years? Not a whole lot on the technological side, with the notable exception of exciting advancements in horizontal drilling techniques that allow producers today to access 10 times the energy by drilling 1/10 the number of wells.
So again: Fracturing was never regulated under SDWA – and, by that definition, could never have been granted an “exemption.” How can you be exempt from something that never covered you in the first place?Dennis Lathem, executive director of the Coalbed Methane Association of Alabama, sheds some additional light on the 2005 bipartisan legislation:
“Hydraulic fracturing has never been regulated under the Safe Drinking Water Act. The 2005 Energy Policy Act contained language clarifying this intent. The language was necessary because a federal circuit court ruled (incorrectly in my opinion) the temporary process of hydraulic fracturing is the same as the permanent disposal of wastes underground and is therefore covered by the SDWA.
“The fact is, if the language clarifying hydraulic fracturing had not been in the 2005 Energy Policy Act, every state in the union would be in exactly the same regulatory posture as they are today, except Alabama.”
Also, click HERE to view a comprehensive timeline illustrating fracturing’s long and clear record of effective regulation.
HINCHEY CLAIM
“It was one of the drillers that put 12 homes into jeopardy [in Pennsylvania], and which caused a lot of contamination of drinking water supplies.”
FACT
PA DEP: “Responding to recent concerns expressed by residents of Dimock Township, Susquehanna County, the Department of Environmental Protection has collected dozens of water supply samples in the Carter Road area and determined that nearby gas well hydro fracturing activity has not impacted local wells.” (Release, 3/27/09)
HINCHEY CLAIM
“I don’t think what I’m doing is going to cause the drilling in New York to be hesitated in any way, or stopped or done more slowly.”
FACT
The FRAC Act could give EPA outright authority to regulate fracturing in energy-producing states, stripping states of their ability to closely and effectively regulate this technology. In an editorial entitled “Power play: Fracturing plan wrong, indefensible,” The Oklahoman writes this:
“The latest power grab is an attempt to switch regulation of hydraulic fracturing from the states to the Environmental Protection Agency. … Some believe the technique poses harm to drinking water supplies. U.S. Rep. Dan Boren, D-Muskogee, disagrees and says the regulatory shift would be “disastrous for the industry.” … Legislation has been introduced in Congress to require companies to disclose the chemicals used in the process and allow the EPA to ensure compliance with the Safe Drinking Water Act. This is a solution in search of a problem.” (6/15/09)
HINCHEY CLAIM
“There’s a lot of examples where drilling has caused damage to drinking water supplies.”
FACT
At a recent Senate Environment and Public Works Committee hearing, U.S. Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.) asked senior EPA and USGS officials if “Any one of you know of one case of ground water contamination that has resulted from hydraulic fracturing?” Here are the answers:
Peter Silva (EPA Water Chief): Not that I’m aware of, no.
Sen. Inhofe: Ms. Giles?
Cynthia Giles (EPA Compliance Administrator): I understand there’s some anecdotal evidence, but I don’t know that it’s been firmly established.
Sen. Inhofe: So the answer is no, you don’t know of it.
Cynthia Giles nods.
Sen. Inhofe: Alright, Mr. Larsen?
Matthew Larsen (Assoc. Director for Water, EPA): I’ll have to respond in writing, I don’t, I’m not aware of all of our studies on that topic.
Click HERE to view this exchange online.
It Was the Best of Times, It Was the Worst of Times
While Upstate NY Continues to Suffer Economic Hardships, PA Neighbors Say “Shale Yes”; Reap Jobs, Revenues and Opportunity Because of It
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Hydraulic Fracturing Regulations in the Senate Climate Bill
What They’re Saying: Hydraulic Fracturing, American Shale Gas Creating “Boom in Blue-Collar Jobs”
EID On The Record, and With the Facts
Associated Press: “Fracturing has a long and clear record of safely leveraging otherwise unreachable homegrown, clean-burning, job-creating energy reserves,” said Lee Fuller, the head of Energy In Depth, a Washington-based coalition of natural gas and oil producers. In response to environmental concerns, Fuller said the industry has been drawing up standards for well casings and how to best handle the fluids in wells. He said efforts in Congress to regulate fracking should be halted until the EPA study was completed.” (3/18/10)
Wall Street Journal: “Lee Fuller, head of the petroleum-industry group Energy In Depth, said that if the review “is based on objective, scientific analysis, it will serve as an opportunity to highlight the host of steps taken at every wellsite that make certain groundwater is properly protected.” (3/19/10)
The Oklahoman: “An oil and gas industry group has proposed tabling legislation that would give the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency the authority to regulate fracturing until the EPA completes its study. Lee Fuller, executive director of Energy in Depth, said further regulation of hydraulic fracturing could hamper domestic energy production and job growth. … “Hydraulic fracturing is one of the U.S. oil and gas industry’s crowning achievements, enabling us to produce energy supplies at enormous depths with surgical precision and unrivaled environmental safety records,” said Fuller. “And, simply put, new innovations are making these technologies better and better by the day.” (3/19/10)
Buffalo News, LTE: “Hydraulic fracturing issues are already answered … All processes related to natural gas exploration and extraction are regulated by the states which, because of their vast geological differences, can do a more thorough job. The U. S. Environmental Protection Agency would never be able to regulate these processes efficiently or cost-effectively. In fact, Steve Heare, director of EPA’s drinking water protection office, recently said states are “doing a good job already” regulating hydraulic fracturing, adding that there is no evidence that suggests the process contaminates water.” (IOGA-NY’s Brad Gill, 3/22/10)
E&E News/New York Times: “Industry also welcomed the new study, saying it would prove claims that fracturing technology is safe. “Assuming the study’s methodology is technically sound, its evaluations are science-based, and its conclusions are peer-reviewed, there’s really only one credible outcome this project can produce,” said Chris Tucker, a spokesman for the industry-backed group Energy in Depth. “And — spoiler alert — it’s not the one that opponents of responsible shale gas exploration are clamoring for.” (3/18/10)
Wilkes-Barre (PA) Times Leader, LTE: “Natural gas industry called well-regulated … The reality is that 99.5 percent of that solution is made up of clean water and playground sand, with much of the remainder comprised of materials such as guar gum – which might sound scary, but is actually found in products such as peanut butter and ice cream. As for the activist’s charge that the natural gas industry isn’t regulated under federal law? Wastewater treatment is covered by the federal Clean Water Act; for wastewater disposal, it’s the Safe Drinking Water Act; and just for good measure, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration mandates the full disclosure of materials used in the process.” (EID’s Chris Tucker, 3/20/10)
Local, State, Fed. Officials: Shale Gas a “Powerful Engine of Economic Growth”
The Hill: “Congressmen defend ‘fracking’ as House panel investigates drilling technique … Boren and Murphy defended the technique and pointed to studies that did not find a any link to groundwater contamination. They added that the materials used are “well known to those who regulate the process and are managed in a way that eliminates vitually any risk of those components coming into contact with shallow reservoirs bearing potable water.” “At the time of unprecedented economic uncertainty, and in a year in which four million Americans lost their jobs, shale gas exploration represents a proven and powerful engine of economic growth – and one this Congress idles at the peril of those it represents.” (3/15/10)
Sunbury (PA) Daily Item: “Yaw: Gas boom highly controlled … State Sen. Gene Yaw, R-23, of Williamsport, said that while environmental activists have been inflaming fears about the perceived dangers from frack water used to extract natural gas in the Marcellus Shale region, a more pressing concern may be effectively managing the influx billions in tax revenue the drilling will bring the Commonwealth. … He said that the fracking process is widely used across the country, and with drilling under way in the Marcellus shale region, there is little evidence that it poses any serious threat. … A Penn State study estimated that when local taxes are included, the government revenue from drilling will hit $2 billion for the period of 2008 through 2010. … Gas drilling has been “the savior of the family farm” in the Northern Tier of Pennsylvania, because of the lucrative gas leases for property owners.” (3/19/10)
Elmira (NY) Star-Gazette: “Marcellus will create thousands of jobs, forum speakers say … [Chemung County Executive Tom Santulli] set the stage by pointing out that Chemung County’s unemployment rate is 9.4 percent, which he said ranks 27th out of 62 counties in New York state. “This is an opportunity for this county and this region to be reborn,” he said. “We can do it and we can do it safely and we can make this a better place to live and work.” (3/19/10)
Fracturing Helping to Bring Jobs, Economic Growth to the Nation’s “Poorest” Regions
Billings Gazette: “Potential oil play in state excites industry … For decades, these formations in eastern Wyoming remained technically unrecoverable. But with national oil prices expected to average more than $80 per barrel through 2010 and average $85 in 2011, and huge leaps in drilling and completion technologies, there’s a rush on mineral leasing from Cheyenne to north of Douglas. “Landmen are more active in southeast portions of the state that haven’t seen oil and gas activity in a long time,” said Wyoming Oil and Gas Conservation Commission supervisor Tom Doll. Places including Goshen and Platte counties — among Wyoming’s poorest — could see some significant drilling activity for the first time in decades, Doll said.” (3/17/10)
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: “Report: Local capital investment created, retained about 16000 jobs … Mr. Yablonsky said 25 of the 44 companies that invested significant capital in the region were energy companies or related industries that had come in to the area or expanded locally because of the natural gas located in the Marcellus Shale Ray N. Walker Jr., a senior vice president of Range Resources, of Fort Worth, Texas, said his company moved him here to open a Marcellus Shale office in Southpointe. Since he unlocked the door in January 2007 the office has grown to employ 200 people locally and 310 across the state. Mr. Walker said there were 55,000 people in Pennsylvania employed in industries involved in the extraction of the natural gas and he predicted that number to double by the end of this year.” (3/18/10)
Wilkes-Barre (PA) Times Leader: “Drilling likely to generate variety of labor positions; 75 percent of gas production workforce composed of unskilled, semi-skilled jobs … If natural gas production from the Marcellus Shale is as successful as energy companies and landowners hope, the companies likely will need to hire more employees to man wells, perform testing for and oversee the drilling of new ones and monitor their operations. “The jobs associated with natural gas drilling are well-paying jobs,” said Doug Hock, spokesman for Calgary-based Encana Energy, which has its U.S. headquarters in Denver, Colo. Salaries even for less-skilled positions generally range between $60,000 and $70,000, Hock said.” (3/22/10)
Philadelphia Inquirer: “Marcellus Shale sends short-line railroad booming … ‘I didn’t even know about the sand when I came in here. I just wanted the railway,’ said Myles, 65, a fourth-generation railroader from Exton. … Almost all of that is sand used in hydraulic fracturing, the process that shatters the dense Marcellus Shale under high pressure to unlock its stores of natural gas. The gas industry’s huge appetite for what is known as “frack sand” has spurred a rebirth for the struggling railroad, whose previous operator gave up just before the gas boom. … “I’m an entrepreneur, and I have a vision for this operation,” Myles said. “I’ve put a lot of people to work here, and I’m going to put a lot more to work.” (3/22/10)
Academics, Experts Say Fracturing, Shale Gas Could Spur “Boom in Blue-Collar Jobs”
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review: “This rush to develop the Marcellus region, which has an abundance of the fossil fuel 6,000 feet below much of the state, could lead to an influx of new companies in Western Pennsylvania to take advantage of low-cost energy and a boom in blue-collar jobs, the experts said. “This region will become self-sufficient in terms of energy. There’s enough natural gas in the Marcellus to power this state for 180 years,” said Kent Moors, director of Duquesne University’s Energy Policy Research Group. … “I don’t think fracking bothers the water table because it’s performed well below the water table,” [Lester Lave, a Carnegie Mellon University professor and co-director of the university's Electricity Industry Center] said. … “I don’t think we will run into a lot of water problems.” (3/17/10)
Buffalo News, Op-Ed: “We must take full advantage of Marcellus Shale … Thanks to the use of new drilling techniques combined with a decades-old process known as hydraulic fracturing, energy companies are now able to access deposits of shale gas that were considered out of reach a few years ago. … Shale gas provides a significant boost for the economy, with thousands of new jobs, tax revenue for state and local governments, and income for property owners. … There have not been any documented cases of ground water contamination from hydraulic fracturing, according to Steve Heare, director of the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Drinking Water Protection Division.” (David Copley, petroleum geologist, 3/15/10)
Binghamton (NY) Press & Star Bulletin, Op-Ed: “The Coming Age of Natural Gas … Heretofore unimagined technologies have now thrust themselves upon human history that will permit the safe extraction of this relatively clean domestic energy resource from the tight grip of the earth. The sheer abundance will also provide long-term downward price pressure on energy making the structural shift even more compelling. Miraculously America sits atop much of those resources and the fruits of that extraction will once again help propel America to energy prosperity and security. Dominant global competitive advantage, jobs, tax revenue and prosperity may result for many generations to come.” (Scott Cline, petroleum engineering PhD, 3/16/10)
The Daily Caller, Op-Ed: “Fracking for a better tomorrow … Technological innovation is one of America’s hallmarks. And our world-leading domestic natural gas industry is one of the best examples. It is puzzling then why some oppose new shale gas production here in the U.S., even when we possess the best and safest technology to recover some of the earth’s most prolific gas reserves. Fortunately, at a time when the U.S. is in dire need of jump-starting its economy, a triumphant story has managed to unfold—the re-emergence of natural gas and hydraulic fracturing. … Hydraulic fracturing is an environmentally safe, highly efficient method to increase America’s domestic energy production. And second, natural gas is the bridge to a cleaner, more sustainable energy future.” (Dr. Michael Economides, professor at the Cullen College of Engineering, University of Houston, 3/19/10)
Wilkes-Barre (PA) Times Leader: “Larry Milliken, director of Energy Programs at Lackawanna College, said that industry wide, jobs in the gas and oil drilling industry pay about 20 percent better than the same types of jobs in other industries. “Around here, there are an awful lot of jobs in the $9- to $14-per-hour range. Jobs in the oil and gas industry tend to start in the $18-per-hour range and go up from there,” Milliken said. A petroleum engineer might earn $40,000 to $45,000 teaching at a college or university, but working in the field for a gas or oil company, the engineer could make close to $90,000, he said. The average technician in the natural gas industry can expect to earn about $30 per hour, which equates to an annual salary of about $60,000. A starting technician with a two-year degree can expect to earn $18 to $20 to start, amounting to a salary near $40,000, Milliken said.” (3/22/10)
Philadelphia Inquirer: “Sudden, serendipitous growth like this is not uncommon in the Marcellus region, where suppliers of housing, food, gravel, spare parts, and transportation are experiencing a stunning demand for their services, the indirect effect of billions of dollars flowing into gas extraction. The full economic effect of the natural-gas boom is only beginning to be understood, said Timothy W. Kelsey, a Pennsylvania State University economist. According to a study by the Pennsylvania Economy League, the oil and gas business was a $7 billion industry in Pennsylvania before the Marcellus frenzy. Kelsey anticipates that compared with those of the shale-gas booms in Texas and Arkansas, which began earlier, the effects will filter out broadly across the economy. “It could be a very big number,” he said.” (3/21/10)
Elmira (NY) Star-Gazette: “If the Marcellus Shale development in the Southern Tier of New York follows the pattern of the Northern Tier of Pennsylvania, then the region could be looking at thousands of new jobs being created over the next few years. “For a rural region, folks, that is significant,” one of the speakers said Friday at the Chemung County Chamber of Commerce’s 17th annual Economic Forum at the Holiday Inn-Riverview in Elmira. The speaker was Larry Michael, executive director for Workforce and Economic Development at the Pennsylvania College of Technology. … He said his center’s study estimated that by 2013 the Marcellus Shale operations will create about 4,000 new jobs in the Northern Tier alone, and between 8,000 and 10,000 jobs combined in the Northern Tier and central Pennsylvania. … “The numbers are just staggering, absolutely staggering,” he said.” (3/19/10)
Newspapers Tout Shale Gas, “Will Create Thousands of Stable, High-Paying Jobs”
Houston Chronicle, Editorial: “The natural gas story … Jobs, jobs, jobs: Expanding the use of natural gas in this country will create thousands of stable, high-paying jobs in the exploration, extraction, marketing, transmission and construction areas. That is not to mention the multiplier effects in service sector areas such as restaurants, entertainment and lodging that promise thousands more jobs.” (3/13/10)
Washington Examiner, Editorial: “Obama’s EPA stifles new energy gains … Jackson forgot to mention “concerns” about hydraulic fracturing come only from environmental groups seeking to stop all uses of fossil fuels like oil, coal, and natural gas. Jackson’s announcement followed the Washington premiere of the anti-fossil fuel “GasLand” propagandamentary produced by some of these same groups. Two more facts Jackson didn’t mention: Never in the 60-year history of hydraulic fracturing has it been linked to a single proven public health threat to water quality; and the EPA has already studied hydraulic fracturing, most recently in 2004, when it found no threat. Clearly, this new study is about stopping fossil fuel development, not protecting public health.” (3/19/10)
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, Editorial: “Already Appalachia’s largest coal producer, Consol knows energy-market opportunity when it sees it — and seizes it. … The deal bodes well for the Pittsburgh region’s economy — and for greater U.S. reliance on domestic energy sources. Best of all, it bodes well for an American future as bright as all the lights Consol can help power — today and for years to come. As long as government doesn’t tax away the profit motive, that is.” (3/22/10)
