The Basics
Fracking. Sounds a little obscene.
Apparently John Lennon’s son, Sean, thinks the same thing. A while back he sang “Don’t frack my mother” on the former “Late Night with Jimmy Fallon” show.
Seriously, what is it?
Fracking is short for “hydraulic fracturing,” a method for extracting natural gas and oil out of shale rock. The Marcellus shale – which covers about 60% of Pennsylvania – is a huge field of dark, slightly crumbly rock deposited by an ancient ocean almost 400 million years ago.
Why is fracking a “hot” issue in the governor’s race?
Because some people violently hate it and think the companies who want it put dollars over safety. For a long time, people thought the shale was pretty much worthless because it doesn’t contain any usable coal and the natural gas trapped inside it was too difficult and expensive to extract. Rising demand for energy, and advances in drilling, drove companies to believe it was worth their effort to drill for the gas. This graphic by Penn State Public Broadcasting shows how it’s done.
Is fracking a big industry here?
As of the end of December 2013, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, gas production in Pennsylvania was growing faster than any state in the country.
Why do opponents think it’s unsafe?
Sean Lennon is part of “Artists Against Fracking,” one of many groups across the country who say there are serious environmental risks related to the drilling, such as methane gas and toxic chemicals that escape through the shale and contaminate drinking water and nearby streams. Others cite air pollution and health problems in humans and animals.
What do supporters say?
Fracking advocates say the potential economic benefits are enormous and that drilling is done responsibly. In addition to decreasing reliance on foreign oil, natural gas is a relatively clean alternative to coal in generating electricity. Taxes levied on gas production also generate revenue for the state.
How much in revenues are we talking about?
Pennsylvania charges companies an “impact fee” for every drilling well in the Marcellus Shale formation – $45,000 per large wells in 2012. According to the state’s Public Utility Commission, the impact fees generated $204 million in 2011 and $202 million in 2012.
Where does the money go?
Sixty percent goes to local governments where wells are located. The rest goes to state agencies that regulate fracking and to a fund that supports environmental and conservation projects.
Does Southeastern PA get any impact fees?
Not from drilling since there are no wells in the five counties. But they do get some funds from the pot of money set aside for environmental and conservation projects – nearly $3.4 million from the $202 million in 2012 impact fees.
So fracking really doesn’t impact this area, right?
Just because there isn’t drilling doesn’t mean there is zero impact. Philadelphia is already a destination for trains carrying oil and gas from shale formations in North Dakota, Montana and Canada. An oil train derailment near West Philly this past January raised an outcry from local environmentalists and a call for a halt. And last September, the Inquirer reported early discussions about a pipeline to connect Philadelphia directly to Marcellus Shale wells in other parts of the state.
What the Candidates Say
Start with Corbett since he obviously has a point of view as the incumbent.
Corbett has been a strong proponent of natural gas drilling, most recently touting the economic and job creation benefits in an “Energy = Jobs” plan. (According to a federal report released last week, Marcellus Shale drilling has added around 15,000 direct jobs in Pennsylvania from 2007-2012.) Corbett also supports impact fees. But he opposes severance taxes on the amount of gas extracted, as most other states with fracking impose, because he says drillers and jobs would leave Pennsylvania for friendlier states.
What about the Democrats gunning for his seat?
They’re not yelling “Drill, Baby, Drill!” but they’re not out to ban fracking either. The Democrats support severance taxes to generate more revenue and a continued moratorium on drilling in state parks and forests. (Governor Rendell ordered the moratorium in 2010.) Corbett, on the other hand, proposes to lease rights to mine gas from underneath state land – but only from drilling sites located on nearby private property. He says this can be done safely and generate $75 million in new revenues.
Basically it looks like the Democratic candidates are neatly aligned on this issue.
Nearly. Interestingly, two of them – John Hanger and Katie McGinty – both headed up Pennsylvania’s Department of Environmental Protection during the Rendell administration. So they have been close to the issue from inside government. As promised, here are links to the candidates’ campaign websites where you can learn more: John Hanger, Jo Ellen Litz, Rob McCord, Katie McGinty, Allyson Schwartz, and Tom Wolf.
You didn’t mention Jack Wagner.
The former Auditor General just jumped into the Democratic primary race so he hasn’t issued a position yet. (His website is still under construction. We’ll post it on our website when it’s up and running.) But when he was running for mayor of Pittsburgh last spring (he lost), a few of the local papers characterized him as “waffling” on the city’s fracking ban.
Get More Information
A good place to start is Pennsylvania’s Department of Environmental Protection. National Public Radio’s StateImpact Pennsylvania – a collaborative effort of WITF and WHYY – also covers the economic and environmental impacts of the state’s energy industry in detail.
To find out more from fracking advocates, go to the Marcellus Shale Coalition’s website. Also check out the website of the Pennsylvania Independent Oil and Gas Association.
On the other side, numerous grassroots groups oppose fracking outright, among them: Marcellus Protest and Energy Justice Network. Other organizations including PennFuture and the Center for Sustainable Shale Development have opted to press for safer gas production through more oversight.
March 3, 2014