Green Activists Want Pols to Shut Mariner East Down. What Happens Then?

Last week, the Delaware Valley Journal featured a piece by Chris Woodard analyzing the current state of Pennsylvania’s energy situation.  

Pennsylvania’s green activists are transparent about what they want; the Mariner East 2 needs to be killed. But as Woodard begs, what happens if they succeed in this mission? It’s an extreme desire to have, being that the pipeline stretches 350-miles from western Pennsylvania to the Marcus Hook facility in the southeastern region of the state. Not to mention, the $2.5 billion dollar project will generate over $100 million a year for Pennsylvania’s economy and thousands of well-paying jobs for those in desperate need after pandemic-related unemployment.  

What activists don’t understand is the criticality of Mariner East’s ability to perform essential energy sector services:  

“Mariner East 2 is critical because the natural gas in southwestern Pennsylvania comes out of the ground with all kinds of other chemicals,” says David N. Taylor, president and CEO of Pennsylvania Manufacturers’ Association. “The natural gas itself is methane, but the methane comes along with ethane, butane, propane, pentane, and natural gasoline, so these are feedstocks that manufacturers can use to make things.” 

“That’s the purpose of Mariner East 2,” says Taylor. “It’s to deliver those inputs from southwestern Pennsylvania to southeastern Pennsylvania.” 

Therefore, in the event uninformed activists got their way, the entire state of Pennsylvania would be adversely impacted without access to reliable, affordable energy, a healthy business climate, a steady economy, and jobs. This reality is not something that should be overlooked; Mariner East 2 holds a lot of importance on every level.