Labor Day is an opportunity to thank those working diligently each day to safely and responsibly develop, transport, and utilize affordable, American natural gas. In Pennsylvania, we’re proud to celebrate the deep partnership between our sector and building trades – one that’s grounded in creating and sustaining good-paying jobs for a stronger, more robust middle class.
Particularly now, the partnership forged has never been more critical, with our industries key to developing the clean, affordable energy that powers our lives and provides feedstock for products that make our modern world possible.
As the MSC wrote to President Biden alongside leaders from Pittsburgh Works Together, the Pennsylvania Manufacturers’ Association, and the Pennsylvania Chamber of Business and Industry in April, “make no mistake, the United States can continue to be an economic and climate leader by embracing responsible natural gas production, infrastructure, and use.”
Just as domestic natural gas production helped lift the nation out of the Great Recession, the region’s abundant supply of affordable and clean shale gas is what’s driving economic activity both here and across the country in recovering from the pandemic, and doing so while putting our skilled workforce back on the job.
And earlier this year, the MSC welcomed its first labor union – the Boilermakers 154 located in Pittsburgh – as a member.
“Boilermakers Local 154 in Pittsburgh are proud members of organized labor and the Marcellus Shale Coalition. We look forward to working together to expand Pennsylvania’s growth using natural gas while creating good union jobs,” Shawn Steffee, Executive Board Trustee and Business Agent at Boilermakers Local 154, said.
These shale gas-fueled jobs are what we must advocate and defend, as well as the job-creating investments in our energy value chain through practical policy solutions – Ones that promote putting American workers back on the job building the pipelines and energy infrastructure essential to the low-carbon world sought by the public, regulators, and investors.
This Labor Day, may we celebrate the shared benefits for consumers, workers, and the environment thanks to the development of clean, Pennsylvania natural gas, and recognize that the bond will refuel and rebuild the American economy.
