Posts Tagged ‘development’

Energy Policy: A new study documents a mini-boom caused by the development of the Marcellus Shale formations in Pennsylvania, creating jobs and revenue. Maybe the second rule of holes is that when you’re in one, start drilling.

While Washington unravels over hitting the debt ceiling, fretting over a stagnant economy, a shortage of revenues and an abundance of spending, a quiet economic boom is occurring in Pennsylvania that shows much of our economic wounds are self-inflicted.

That developing domestic energy could go a long way toward generating the revenues, jobs and energy we desperately need is shown by the third and final study by researchers at Penn State on the development of the Marcellus Shale and its economic impact on Pennsylvania and the U.S.

“Large-scale development of the Marcellus is reshaping the economic landscape of Pennsylvania,” concluded authors Timothy J. Considine, Robert Watson and Seth Blumsack. They note that in 2010 alone, the Marcellus Shale natural gas industry triggered $11.2 billion in economic activity, generated $1.1 billion in state and local taxes, and supported nearly 140,000 jobs.

Don’t expect the Obama administration to tout the Marcellus experience as an example of American ingenuity and innovation. If it had its way, the Marcellus would be paved over with solar panels and the hillsides dotted with wind turbines, hoping for the sun to shine and the wind to blow.

President Obama once said that energy prices would “necessarily skyrocket” as we were weaned off fossil fuels and forced to use so-called green energy. According to the Penn State study, development of the Marcellus has lowered residential natural gas and electricity bills in the Commonwealth by $245.1 million. Thanks to the 12.6% reduction in natural gas prices due to rising Marcellus output, total energy costs for all Pennsylvania consumers declined by $633 billion in 2010.

The study projects that by 2020, Marcellus development could support 245,000 jobs and generate $20 billion in added value to the Pennsylvania economy.

The success of Marcellus is staggering but not unique. Drilling in the Bakken formation along the North Dakota-Montana border helps explain North Dakota’s unemployment rate of 3.2%, the nation’s lowest.

In one of the few areas where we’re allowed to develop domestic energy, Pennsylvania contains a major portion of the Marcellus Shale Formation that covers 34 million acres in New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland, West Virginia and Kentucky. SUNY-Fredonia geologist Gary Lash and colleague Terry Engelder of Penn State estimate that Marcellus holds 1,300 trillion cubic feet of natural gas.

Extrapolate this success nationwide and what it would mean to the economy if restrictions imposed by the Obama administration on drilling offshore and in Alaska were lifted and if a truce was called in the EPA’s war on fossil fuels and CO2.

A recent study done by SAC Corp. at the request of the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners, the Gas Technology Institute and others shows that the U.S. economy will suffer $2.3 trillion in lost opportunity costs over the next two decades, monies that would go a long way toward reining in runaway deficits and creating economic growth.

Out west we may have what could be called a “Persia on the Plains.” A Rand Corp. study says the Green River Formation, which covers parts of Colorado, Utah and Wyoming, has the largest known oil shale deposits in the world, holding from 1.5 trillion to 1.8 trillion barrels of crude. But most of it is locked up by federal edict.

Earth to Washington: While you’re figuring ways to stem the tide of red ink you might consider tapping into the black gold and other riches right under your feet.

NOTE: Click HERE to view this editorial online.

Posted at MarcellusCoalition.org

Gov. Ridge: “The development of the Marcellus Shale will benefit all of the citizens of our state, our region, and our nation”

Canonsburg, Pa. – The Marcellus Shale Coalition (MSC), representing the majority of those responsible for the development and transportation of clean-burning shale gas throughout the Commonwealth, is pleased to formally announce that former Gov. Tom Ridge has joined the group as a strategic advisor.

“I am pleased to work with the members of the Marcellus Shale Coalition to ensure that this clean and abundant natural gas resource is developed for the full benefit of my home state of Pennsylvania and the nation. Joining the planning effort at this early stage will allow my voice to be added to efforts already underway to ensure worker safety and environmental protection, and to encourage the fullest economic benefit for our state, our communities, and the entire workforce involved in this transformational effort,” said Gov. Ridge.

“The responsible development of the Marcellus Shale represents a once-in-a-generation opportunity to strengthen our region’s economy and our nation’s security,” said Kathryn Klaber, president and executive director of the MSC. “We are honored to have Gov. Ridge working alongside our organization to help ensure that Pennsylvanians fully recognize our industry’s commitment to environmental and workforce safety, as well as the positive and overwhelming economic benefits that responsible shale gas development continues to generate across the region.”

“Pennsylvania, Penn Woods, is rich in natural resources and has led our nation in energy development. We have learned from the past that we must develop our resources safely and efficiently. During my term as Governor, we grew our economy by providing incentives for economic growth and always by ‘Growing Greener.’ The development of the Marcellus Shale will benefit all of the citizens of our state, our region, and our nation. Not only can the environmental and economic benefit be transformational for generations to come, our homeland security will be forever strengthened.,” added Gov. Ridge. “There is much work to be done to maximize the benefits of these abundant and domestic resources, and I’m looking forward to help lead this important effort.”

Before becoming Pennsylvania’s 43^rd governor, serving as the Commonwealth’s chief executive from 1995 to 2001, Gov. Ridge represented northwestern Pennsylvania in the U.S. House of Representatives for more than 10 years. Following the tragic events of September 11^th, 2001, Gov. Ridge became the first Assistant to the President for Homeland Security and, on January 24, 2003, became the first secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

MATTHEW TODD VINE Times Leader Intern

HAZLETON – Local businesses eager to get in on the Marcellus Shale gas drilling bonanza will have a chance to hear about opportunities on Tuesday.

That’s when the Northeast Pennsylvania Manufacturers and Employers Association will hold a combined Schuylkill/Luzerne CEO roundtable at the Top of the 80’s restaurant on Route 93 to talk about Marcellus Shale development with a focus on manufacturing jobs.

Darlene Robbins, president of the association, said that about 25 member companies were registered for the event by Wednesday.

“Our purpose of the event is to provide the discussion to the companies,” Robbins said, “about the services that are available with this Marcellus Shale development.”

Robbins said the businesses already registered include service providers, universities, workforce development agencies and electrical contractors.

According to the Marcellus Shale Coalition, based in Canonsburg, an industry funded study by The Department of Energy and Mineral Engineering in the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences at The Pennsylvania State University found 44,000 jobs already created in the state and projected more than 200,000 direct and indirect jobs would be added by 2020.

The potential jobs include site construction, well production, pipe manufacturing and transportation.

The Marcellus Shale is a layer of sedimentary rock about a mile underground that contains natural gas. This layer underlies much of Pennsylvania and West Virginia, and parts of New York, Ohio, Maryland, Virginia. Drilling is just getting started in Luzerne County, and companies have leased thousands of acres, mostly in the northern and western sections of the county.

Copyright: Times Leader