Natural gas has benefited workforce development and economic growth across the Appalachian region through utilizing advanced safety technology to tap and transport that energy wealth. A recent Letter to the Editor in Penn Live highlighted a study undertaken by the University of Pennsylvania Kleinman Center for Energy Policy. Mike Butler, mid-Atlantic executive director for the Consumer Energy Alliance in Pittsburgh, stressed that “The report found that natural gas over the past decade has allowed Pennsylvanians to enjoy significant cost reductions versus the national average.”
Butler further chronicled the benefits of energy infrastructure projects across Pennsylvania, qualifying that “More jobs and more economic growth will only come with petrochemical facilities, such as the Shell Chemical ethane cracker plant, pipeline expansions and working with neighboring states on an ethane storage facility. Natural gas truly has been a blessing for Pennsylvania. We need to ensure we continue to harvest this vast natural resource and reap all the benefits it provides.”
Shale formations in the Keystone State present recoverable harbingers of benefits for people across Pennsylvania – and these benefits will sustain through the continued expansion of energy infrastructure across sectors.