A mainstay argument among opponents of clean-burning natural gas is that the non-negotiable tool for producing this energy — hydraulic fracturing — is unsafe, and poses a threat to the environment. As this site has made plain on a number of occasions, a long, clear record of safety and performance demonstrates otherwise. Fracking, which is heavily regulated by individual states, is critical to producing clean-burning natural gas, helping to create good-paying jobs and generating much-needed revenues for local communities and states. Local communities understand this better than most.

Under the headline “Sullivan economic group supports ‘fracking’,” the Times Herald-Record in New York reported this over the weekend:

Let the drilling begin, says Sullivan County’s chief economic organization.

The Sullivan County Partnership for Economic Development has endorsed the county’s newest – and most controversial – opportunity for revival, drilling for natural gas in the Marcellus shale, which sits beneath Sullivan.

That endorsement comes with a condition many environmentalists say is impossible – that the development of one of the country’s richest natural gas deposits can preserve the county’s pristine fields, forests and waterways.

The partnership just issued a policy statement that says it “believes strongly, that if government and industry can collaborate to properly protect and preserve our environment, the development of a natural gas industry in Sullivan County could create substantial fiscal benefits for our landowners and communities.”

The endorsement comes prior to a Partnership-sponsored gas-drilling meeting Tuesday that will feature industry representatives who have stressed that gas exploration – with its horizontal drilling method of hydraulic fracturing of shale, or “fracking” – is safe.”

Like local economic groups, such as the one in Sullivan County, state legislatures, county government officials, members of Congress, and community members from natural-gas rich areas continue to fight for expanded energy exploration and production using hydraulic fracturing.

And while some prefer that America’s vast amounts of clean-burning natural gas remain off-limits, energy industry experts are delivering the facts – that fracking is environmentally-safe and well-regulated – directly to the public. Here are just a few recent examples.

• Associated Press: Spokesman for Energy in Depth: “Now we produce much further down and have to use technology that is much more advanced.”
• Pittsburgh Tribune-Review: Range Resource’s Matthew Pitzarella: “In 60 years, we (the drilling industry) have had zero confirmed reports of hydraulic fracturing (water) contaminating drinking water.”