LETTER: No apologies for being an energy leader
Most may not realize, but Pennsylvania is the birthplace of America’s oil industry, with the first boom in Titusville in 1859. Supplying nearly one-third of the world’s oil, brand names like Quaker State and Pennzoil were known around the world. You might remember Arnie Palmer’s old tractor commercial for Pennzoil, or Quaker State sponsoring numerous race car teams.
Today, Pennsylvania is the energy powerhouse of the East led by our position as the nation’s second-largest producer of natural gas, coming from the Marcellus and Utica shale basins.
We have the primary building block of all successful economies – abundant and inexpensive energy. We have the infrastructure. Recent build-outs like Energy Transfer’s Mariner East pipeline project and others play an important role in getting vital and valuable natural gas liquids (NGLs) to market. Add to this our academic institutions, research and development, geographically desirable location, and a highly skilled workforce and we are uniquely positioned to be a driving force in the nation’s economic recovery and the return of critical manufacturing to the United States post-pandemic.
Not only are our energy prices below the national average; natural gas used for electric generation has led to significant CO2 emission reductions and has brought our region to the cusp of a growing petrochemical industry.
The electric power sector only consumes about a third of the natural gas or NGLs produced. Another third goes to industrial applications like petrochemical and synthetic fertilizer production, and as a raw material in the manufacturing of critical products such as surgical masks, ventilators, PPE products and thousands of others across numerous industries – including, of course, for solar panels and wind turbines.
We will progress and develop means to better protect the environment while benefiting from this great resource. There is no perfect solution. We can’t turn the switch off tomorrow. But our energy industry will be an invaluable asset as we move forward.
It cannot and should not be all or nothing on either side. Rational, balanced thought based on applied science is what can bring us to an energy solution that protects the environment and current jobs, creates more direct and indirect jobs, and allows us to be independent of reliance on foreign suppliers for critical products.
Jeff Nobers
Executive director
Pittsburgh Works Together