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Utica shale drilling continues to rise

‘Keep It In The Ground’ movement looking to halt further production

ST. CLAIRSVILLE — As natural gas production from Utica shale wells soared 35-fold over the last three and a half years, several national environmental groups are advocating a “keep it in the ground” strategy to halt further drilling and fracking efforts for fear of potential water and air pollution.

However, officials with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce claim that failing to frack would cost the nation 4.3 million jobs and $548 billion worth of annual gross domestic product.

“The ‘Keep It in the Ground’ movement completely ignores the vast benefits to Pennsylvania and our nation’s economy that the energy renaissance has brought to us,” Karen Harbert, president and CEO of the U.S. Chamber’s Institute for 21st Century Energy, said. “For instance, lower electricity and fuel prices spurred a comeback in manufacturing that alone is responsible for nearly 400,000 American jobs. It costs consumers less to drive a car and heat their homes today. And all the while, our nation has been decreasing its energy imports and lowering emissions.”

According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, natural gas production from the Utica shale formation jumped from just about 100 million cubic feet per day in December 2012 to 3.5 billion cubic feet per day in June. Oil yields for the region also spiked from 4,400 barrels per day to 76,000 barrels per day during the same time period.

Drillers operating in the eastern Ohio Utica Shale include Rice Energy, Gulfport Energy, XTO Energy, Ascent Resources, Antero Resources, Eclipse Resources, Magnum Hunter and others.

If the Marcellus and Utica shale boom did not occur, U.S. Chamber officials believe the state of Pennsylvania would have 118,000 fewer jobs and $13 billion less in annual GDP.

“The energy renaissance in this country would not have happened without Marcellus and Utica shale, and Pennsylvania is blessed to sit atop the lion’s share of those resources,” said Gene Barr, president and CEO of the Pennsylvania Chamber of Business and Industry.

“We have seen blue-collar jobs in the trades and manufacturing start to come back to this state, while utility bills and air pollution have both gone down significantly,” he added.

However, Greenpeace advocates believe humans need to leave at least 80 percent of the world’s known fossil fuels in the ground to prevent “runaway climate change.” Officials with the San Francisco-based Sierra Club are also working to restrict natural gas development.

“Instead of blindly allowing destructive fracking to continue in our communities, we should extend statewide fracking bans and moratoriums that will keep dirty, climate-polluting fossil fuels like fracked gas in the ground and invest in truly clean, renewable sources of energy that don’t come with the threat of poisoned drinking water and climate disaster,” said Lena Moffitt, director of the club’s Dirty Fuels Initiative.

However, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce continues pushing for greater fossil fuel usage.

“We also have tremendous assets in terms of coal, nuclear and renewables, and this report shows why it would be absolutely devastating to our economy and to our environmental goals if we were to adopt misguided energy policies,” Barr said.

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