With Election Day mere weeks away, one policy topic is supported on both sides of the aisle in the Keystone State: natural gas, which is considered by lawmakers and voters alike as being critical to advancing environmental, national security and economic goals.
“Natural gas bridges political divides in Pennsylvania because the industry provides universally supported benefits: quality jobs, energy cost savings, and environmental advancement,” Marcellus Shale Coalition (MSC) President Dave Callahan told Pennsylvania Business Report. “There should be no debate about the essential role of responsible natural gas development and use.”
Overall, voters in Pennsylvania support the United States taking an all-of-the-above approach to energy sources for the future, according to Axis Research Inc., which in February released polling results showing that 68 percent of voters in the state specifically support an increased investment in natural gas, making it “a rare bipartisan issue.”
“We see this broad bipartisan support in polling, and we hear it in communities in every corner of Pennsylvania,” Callahan said. “Our elected officials in Harrisburg — both Democrats and Republicans — overwhelmingly understand the importance of a strong and thriving natural gas industry.”
In fact, unconventional natural gas production has become a significant economic driver in Pennsylvania, where the resource not only represents a source of affordable energy, but is also a vital component of job creation and economic stability, according to MSC, an apolitical entity that does not support candidates or campaigns, but does advocate around policies that impact Pennsylvania’s natural gas industry.
Likewise, the natural gas sector supports 123,000 Pennsylvania jobs, generated $40 billion in a year of economic activity, and contributed more than $6 billion in royalties to landowners and government entities, according to an MSC analysis conducted last August.
Natural gas also has led to historic air quality gains in the state, as well as other significant environmental benefits.
For instance, Pennsylvania remained the country’s top electricity exporter while simultaneously reaching a new low for carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from electricity generation in 2023, according to the latest analysis from the Pennsylvania Independent Fiscal Office.
Additionally, May analysis from MSC found that the increased use of natural gas for power generation has delivered between $450 billion to $1.04 trillion in public health benefits by slashing the state’s power sector CO2 emissions by 46 percent from peak 2005 emission levels.
“Pennsylvania’s energy leadership with the sustained development of clean natural gas is generating substantial benefits for our environment, economy and, as this data shows, the well-being of our communities,” said Callahan. “Thanks to natural gas, Pennsylvanians are breathing cleaner air than ever before, directly translating to improved quality of life for our residents.”
MSC also says that natural gas is foundational to the development of other low-carbon energy sources, such as hydrogen, as well as gas byproducts containing high concentrations of lithium, a critical element used for batteries, energy storage, semiconductors and electric vehicles, among other products.
As America’s second-largest natural gas producer, Pennsylvania has a unique opportunity to share this resource with the world by expanding its liquefied natural gas (LNG) export capabilities while creating jobs and boosting state and local economies, according to the coalition.
Jeff Nobers, executive director of Pittsburgh Works Together, agrees that natural gas has been beneficial for the commonwealth.
“In a very short period of time, Pennsylvania became the #2 producer in the nation of the most reliable, efficient, low-cost energy source,” he wrote in an email.
As a result, Nobers said there’s been billions of dollars in capital investment in Pennsylvania; billions of dollars in state tax revenue; billions of dollars in royalty payments to Pennsylvania landowners; tens of millions of dollars in impact fees distributed across the state; and tens of thousands of jobs across a broad spectrum of disciplines from welders to office staff.
“As a result of the increased use of natural gas, Pennsylvania’s overall environment and, in particular, air quality has also improved,” he said. “Overall, natural gas has provided hope and opportunity for the state.”
Although the state falls “considerably behind neighboring states” in economic development and population, Nobers said that without natural gas, it would have been worse.
“Natural gas has provided the state and, in particular the southwest region of the state, a second chance on economic life,” he said.
Moving ahead
Toward further capitalizing on natural gas, elected officials should address “stifling regulatory hurdles, tax inequalities and other challenges” that hold back the expansion of natural gas development and usage, Callahan says.
Nobers agrees, saying that although Pennsylvania will continue to be a top producer of natural gas, the open question right now is whether Pennsylvania will finally and fully embrace the opportunity that natural gas production and use presents.
“Can we use natural gas, and everything else the state has going for it — such as abundant water resources — and make Pennsylvania the place for businesses to expand and for new businesses to locate?” asked Nobers. “Pennsylvania is, and in the future should increasingly be, the ideal place for those who would benefit from the use of natural gas as an energy source and feed stock.”
Nobers also pointed out that because of natural gas, Pennsylvania could be the ideal home for all manner of business from pharmaceutical manufacturers to data centers.
“But our policy perspective must communicate clarity, certainty and durability to all who consider Pennsylvania as a place to conduct business,” he said. “The role natural gas will play in Pennsylvania is in large part dependent on whether policymakers recognize the opportunity and pursue it.”
Pennsylvania lawmakers continue to make energy decisions based on a hodge-podge of beliefs, desires and political considerations rather than on solid scientific, economic and engineering realities, said Nobers.
“We have forced the closure of coal and gas fired power plants, our renewable energy pronouncements have shut down investment in new and technologically advanced plants in the state, and we are facing a full-on catastrophe with our electric grid that will result in rolling brownouts, less reliability, higher costs and lasting damage to our residents quality of life and economic development across the state,” said Nobers.
“We need to come to grips with a true energy policy based on an all-of-the-above energy strategy,” he added.