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The frackers' plan to win Greater Philadelphia
Public relations, investments, coercion and economic lures are all ways to keep metro-area residents complacently on the sidelines in the shale-gas game.
The frackers' plan to win Greater Philadelphia
Public opinion on shale-gas drilling in Pennsylvania runs the gamut, from the utter outrage of those whose water has been contaminated, whose livestock have died in the fields and whose family members have taken ill, to those who see it as the commonwealth's big chance for big money, in the form of big campaign contributions and big — oh wait, that's meager — income from taxes and fees. But what about Philadelphia and its suburbs? Except for joining in the outcry against drilling in the Delaware River Basin — a.k.a. the source of our very own drinking water — many people here have been relatively indifferent.
So, how can the fracking industry tip the scales? Here are the makings of a solid action plan, and it's already well underway.
Step 1. Keep the drilling the hell away from us.
Done, and done. The Commonwealth's new budget bill was injected with language that provides for a moratorium on oil and gas drilling permits in the South Newark Basin — which runs through Bucks and Montgomery counties — until 2018. Since Act 13, passed earlier this year, pretty much eliminates any local zoning controls over drilling, such a law was the only sure way to prevent fracking from running right through the metro Philly area.
“Decisions about gas drilling and fracking must be made based on environmental and community impacts, not back room politics,” said Maya van Rossum, the Delaware Riverkeeper, in a statement from the Riverkeeper, PennEnvironment, Sierra Club and Clean Water Action.“This law is a sham— it’s a power play to try to get a few politicians who voted to gut community rights off the hot seat in their backyard at the expense of every place else and that’s just dead wrong. We need a statewide moratorium on gas drilling now.”
Step 2. Sell us on the jobs.
What saved Philly's Sunoco refinery? Lots of political legwork, sure, but also, you guessed it, shale gas. As Reuters reported: "In addition to saving the region from a potential shortfall of fuel and heralding a stronger connection between East Coast refiners and the dramatic growth in Midwest shale oil production, the venture plans to exploit the low cost and abundant supply of natural gas from the nearby Marcellus Shale deposit to reduce the costs of powering the plant."
As well, there was all sorts of buzz over a recent study proclaiming the potential for shale gas as the key to repurposing the Sunoco Marcus Hook Industrial Complex, which closed last December and was "responsible for nearly 500 direct jobs" in and around Delaware County.
The Marcellus Shale Coalition, an industry group, was quick to tout the potential outlined in the report: "In fact, tightly-regulated natural gas development from the Marcellus Shale – considered to be the world’s second largest natural gas field – is breathing new life into refineries in the Philadelphia region, helping to save and create hundreds of jobs and further positioning the Commonwealth for long-term economic growth."
Step 3. Spin us.
There's an active public-relations campaign going on targeting Philly, from aforementioned Marcellus Shale Coalition. "Natural Gas Industry Wants Philadelphians to Ask their Questions on Marcellus Shale Development," is the headline, inviting visitors to the website askaboutshale.org.
“Even though drilling is happening hundreds of miles away, residents of the Philadelphia region are already involved in shale gas development – as consumers of energy; as residents of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania where jobs are being created by the industry; and as Americans who want alternatives to foreign oil. Yet residents of the Philadelphia region have questions about development of the Marcellus Shale and how it impacts their families and their community,” said MSC president Kathryn Klaber in the press release.
Once all of our burning questions are asked over the next few months, the Coalition will apparently be hitting us with all sorts of answers.
Step 4. Bring the shale gas here ASAP.
Companies — local companies — are spending billions of dollars to pipe shale gas into Philly, along with other important East Coast cities such as Baltimore and Washington, as the Inquirer reported in its extensive series on the pipeline industry. UGI Corp., based in Valley Forge, is working on a $1 billion pipeline running south from northern Pennsylvania, while Penn Virginia Resource Partners L.P., of Radnor spent $1 billion to acquire a pipeline company in April, to obtain "a critical mass and a strategic footprint in the Marcellus Shale."
Step 5. Get us to tie our infrastructure to shale gas.
Harrisburg Republicans went ballistic when SEPTA purchased some hybrid-diesel-fueled buses instead of compressed natural gas powered vehicles. Rep. Stan Saylor even told the Inquirer "if we ever do a transportation bill, I will do everything I can to stop SEPTA from getting any more money until they change their management practices." SEPTA, which badly needs support (as Daniel Denvir detailed a few weeks ago), told the Inquirer that it would, in fact, offer to run its rail system on natural gas — a step, from the pro-fracking viewpoint, in the right direction.
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