Fracking and Battleground Pennsylvania
Mark Green
Posted June 26, 2020
Pennsylvania promises to again be a battleground state this year, and former Vice President Joe Biden was in Lancaster this week to talk about health care and the coronavirus. At some point voters in the nation’s No. 2 energy-producing state will want to know what he thinks about natural gas and oil.
Our industry supports hundreds of thousands of jobs in Pennsylvania, furnishes tens of billions of dollars in wages and contributions to the commonwealth’s economy. Nearly $2 billion in impact fee revenue from natural gas production has gone to the state – distributed to counties and municipalities to fund public safety, water and sewer projects, environmental programs and more:
Natural gas and oil are critical to Pennsylvania and to the United States, and any policy or program that would ban or severely restrict safe fracking, impacting natural gas and oil production, could have significant energy and economic effects.
It’s not just API making the policy argument for energy and against banning fracking. A sampling:
Ed Rendell, former Pennsylvania governor and Democratic National Committee chairman:
“It's created jobs and huge economic investment in Pennsylvania. And it's helped create wealth in the poorest areas of Pennsylvania.”
President Barack Obama in 2012:
“The development of natural gas will create jobs and power trucks and factories that are cleaner and cheaper, proving that we don’t have to choose between our environment and our economy.”
U.S. Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa.:
“The false choice is that you have to choose fracking over good climate policy.”
Sally Jewell, Interior Department secretary during the Obama administration:
“I know there are those who say fracking is dangerous and should be curtailed, full stop. That ignores the reality that it has been done for decades and has the potential for developing significant domestic resources and strengthening our economy and will be done for decades to come.”
AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka:
Climate plans that “devastate communities today, while offering vague promises about the future are not worthy of the American heroes who build and power this country every day.”
Finally, there’s Joe Biden (the clip in the tweet below is from a 2013 speech in India):
About The Author
Mark Green joined API after a career in newspaper journalism, including 16 years as national editorial writer for The Oklahoman in the paper’s Washington bureau. Previously, Mark was a reporter, copy editor and sports editor at an assortment of newspapers. He earned his journalism degree from the University of Oklahoma and master’s in journalism and public affairs from American University. He and his wife Pamela have two grown children and six grandchildren.