More than “$11.4 billion in economic output”, tens of thousands of much-needed jobs
Canonsburg, Pa. – The environmentally responsible development of the Marcellus Shale’s clean-burning American natural gas resources continues to have a transformative economic impact across the regions: tens of thousands of good-paying jobs, hundreds of millions in tax revenues, and billions in economic activity, investment and development. However, New York continues to misguidedly forgo these historic energy security and economic opportunities.
A new Manhattan Institute report issued this week, entitled “The Economic Opportunities of Shale Energy Development,” underscores the enormous potential that Marcellus development can offer New York’s economy, should leaders in Albany move forward with a commonsense plan aimed to responsibly leveraging the state’s abundant natural gas resources.
Key Manhattan Institute study findings:
- An end to the moratorium would spur over $11.4 billion in economic output.
- The typical Marcellus shale gas well generates about $4 million in economic benefits.
- Some 15,000 to 18,000 jobs could be created in the Southern Tier and Western New York, regions which lost a combined 48,000 payroll jobs between 2000 and 2010.*
- Another 75,000 to 90,000 jobs could be created if the area of exploration and drilling were expanded to include the Utica shale and southeastern New York, including the New York City watershed. (This assumes a regulatory regime that protects the water supply but permits drilling to continue.)
- Localities and the state stand to reap $1.4 billion in tax revenues if the moratorium is allowed to expire.
*Based on third quarter data from the Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages, maintained by the New York State Department of Labor. Posted at http://www.labor.ny.gov/stats/lsqcew.shtm.
