Responsible American shale development continues to create enormous economic, environmental and national security benefits for our nation. From more jobs – even in New England – to strengthened competitiveness for American steel manufacturers, shale is an economic engine that is ensuring that we are no longer dangerously dependent on foreign nations to meet our growing energy demands.

And in a recent interview with Politico’s Capital New York publication, “U.S. energy secretary Ernest Moniz said [Gov.] Andrew Cuomo should consider the economic prosperity fracking has brought to Pennsylvania as he weighs a ban in New York.”

Secretary Moniz – who has spoken to hydraulic fracturing’s clear record of safety – adds this:

Natural gas produced by fracking has boosted American industry by more than $100 billion and lowered CO2 emissions, Moniz said, in an interview with Capital. “This new resource is of critical importance. If you look at Pennsylvania, it’s amazing, in the Marcellus shale,” he said. “They have gone from a very, very minor contributor to the national natural gas production, to nearly 20 percent in a remarkably short period. And as we know, that has had enormous economic benefits for the state. Obviously, New York will presumably take that as one of the factors to be considered in its decision.”

Here’s what else they are saying about the benefits of tightly-regulated American shale development:

  • SUPPLY CHAIN JOBS CREATED ACROSS PA: Not many drillers are tapping into the Marcellus Shale in northwestern Pennsylvania, where the geologic formation isn’t particularly rich in natural gas and oil. But some northwestern Pennsylvania businesses are tapping into Marcellus profits, adding jobs and pumping dollars into the region’s economy. Meadville-based Universal Well Services Inc. has been doing business in the Marcellus for a decade. It fracked the first Marcellus well, in southwestern Pennsylvania, in October 2004 and has since grown from 200 to more than 1,000 employees. “We were in on the ground floor of the Marcellus, saw that our customer seemed pretty excited about it, and read between the lines,” company President Roger Willis said. … The state and region are sharing its good fortune. In 2009, Universal Well Services spent almost $48 million in Pennsylvania, for trucks, tires, electronics, welding supplies, safety equipment and other needs, Willis said. Much of that was spent locally. “We prefer to use local vendors, from the people building our buildings to Hagan Business Machines for the copiers we buy, to the Holiday Inn Express, where we have a training facility,” Willis said. Universal Well Services is the poster company for local firms at work in the Marcellus, said Mark Turner, executive director of the Economic Progress Alliance of Crawford County. “They’re the prime example of how a company can benefit and has benefitted from the Marcellus, even without significant drilling here,” Turner said. (Erie Times-News, 2/16/14)
  • PA COMMUNITIES MOVE TO CNG VEHICLES: The Borough of Chambersburg is keeping alive its hopes to fuel area vehicles with compressed natural gas. … CNG is natural gas compressed to less than 1 percent of its volume. It burns cleaner than diesel fuel or gasoline. Chambersburg, one of two municipal gas utilities in Pennsylvania, would supply the gas to be compressed. Fleets of commercial and municipal vehicles — trash trucks, buses and other vehicles — are targeted be the first customers. … Chambersburg’s CNG station would be the first in the region. … CNG is both less expensive and more environmentally friendly than diesel or gasoline, according to NGVA. CNG is about $1.50 less per gallon than gasoline. With the production of natural gas from Marcellus shale and other deposits the price of CNG is projected to remain stable for more than a decade. (Chambersburg Opinion, 2/17/14)
  • MARCELLUS REVENUES ADVANCE CONSERVATION: Money from natural gas in the state’s Marcellus Shale formation has been earmarked to buy conservation easements and protect streams, wetlands and other environmental features in York County’s Codorus Creek watershed. County commissioners on Wednesday approved allocating the York County Farm & Natural Lands Trust $80,000 per year for the next three years, and the money will be used to buy easements on properties identified as conservation priorities along the south and east branches of the Codorus, said Sean Kenny, executive director of the trust. While there is no natural gas drilling in York County, all Pennsylvania counties get a share of impact fees paid from areas where there is. Under state rules, the money must be used for environmental and outdoor recreation causes, such as preservation and open space projects. (York Dispatch, 2/15/14)