Editor: Sharon Guynup’s recent column (“Close fracking loopholes,” Feb. 27) lodges a series of claims about the responsible and well-regulated development of job-creating American natural gas that are simply unsupported by the facts. It’s clear that Ms. Guynup – who’s from Hoboken, N.J. – does not have a full appreciation for the host of state and federal regulations in place to ensure that natural gas is produced safely.
Hydraulic fracturing is a 60-year-old well completion technology with a long and clear record of safety, coupled with common-sense state regulations and the industry’s unwavering commitment to protecting our environment above all else. In Pennsylvania, where the Marcellus Shale now supports nearly 229,000 jobs, according to state data, our industry continues to work closely with regulators to make sure certain policies are in place to build upon this positive progress, aimed at enhancing environmental safeguards while generating much-needed economic activity and energy security benefits for our country.
U.S. EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson said recently that fracturing is “perfectly capable of being clean” for the environment. And due to tight state oversight, the “regulation of fracking doesn’t necessarily need to be federal,” Ms. Jackson noted.
In his State of the Union address, President Obama said, “The development of natural gas is proving that we don’t have to choose between our environment and our economy.” Pennsylvania’s natural gas development is proof of that.
American natural gas is creating jobs and powering our nation’s economy through clean-burning energy resources, proving that we don’t have to choose between our environment and our economy.
STEVE FORDE
Vice President, Marcellus Shale Coalition
Canonsburg, Washington County
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