Natural gas resources in Pennsylvania offer the state a strategic opportunity to enhance U.S. energy security, make energy more affordable, create jobs and reduce emissions so long “as we get out of our own way,” energy and labor leaders said during a Senate Majority Policy Committee Hearing in Pittsburgh on January 20.
Regional community, business and labor leaders are excited about the benefits that Pennsylvania’s abundant resources generate but concerned that permit delays and regulatory challenges may diminish opportunities.
To ensure Pennsylvania’s continued leadership in energy and manufacturing, policymakers must solidify access to “clean, abundant, and affordable energy resources,” said Jeff Kotula, president of the Washington County Chamber of Commerce.
After all, the U.S. shale revolution unlocked cheaper energy costs across the nation and accounted for 61% of the United States’ emissions reductions from 2005 to 2020, according to new Progressive Policy Institute research. Not only did this critical resource target emissions and economic development, but authors with the D.C.-think tank said the shale revolution also launched a manufacturing revival, bringing home jobs that had previous been sent overseas to competitors, with the regional gas industry reviving communities and generating careers that retained local talent.
“These are really good jobs — really good blue-collar union jobs,” Shawn Steffee, business manager of the Boilermakers Local 154 in Pittsburgh, said about his members’ lines of work. “Gas is vital for us and for the economy.”
Without new and expanded pipeline access, however, MSC’s Dave Callahan warned natural gas resources become trapped, leaving surrounding states to turn to higher emission, higher cost fuel alternatives.
“Many of the New England states, as well as New Jersey and New York, are able to tout their climate-emission reductions not because they have totally re-imagined their own power generation industry, but because they have literally shut down generation units, and instead relied upon Pennsylvania to keep the lights on and the businesses open,” Callahan said. “If we are to not only maintain, but grow, this impressive profile, we must tackle the barriers to energy access and, by extension, affordability.”
Energy access creates an economic advantage for the region, other business leaders testified during the hearing.
“The ability of southwestern Pennsylvania to thrive – economically, socially and environmentally – is dependent on our ability to thoughtfully utilize our energy assets,” said Lauren Connelly, Vice President, Local Government Affairs and Advocacy Greater Pittsburgh Chamber of Commerce. “If not utilized successfully, we will have missed a tremendous opportunity to grow the economy and create jobs.”
Nationally, these themes of leveraging energy abundance for sustained economic growth are playing out, as seen in a recent WoodMackenzie 2023 outlook. The energy consultant said infrastructure development will be a top priority for energy and labor leaders in 2023.
While pipelines are being expanded in the Gulf Coast, infrastructure built in the northeast could help ease energy concerns across regions like New England that have historically suffered from higher energy costs.
“Policymakers and energy stakeholders must resoundingly respond with facts, with science, with the education of our young people, and with a constant reminder of how these resources drive and improve upon our quality of life each and every day,” said MSC President Dave Callahan.
