API Pennsylvania lashes out at Delaware River Basin Commission proposal to ban hydraulic fracturing

While fracking has proven a controversial topic in recent years, a Delaware River Basin Commission proposal to outright ban hydraulic fracturing sparked a chiding response from API Pennsylvania.

Pointing to the economic benefits fracking has brought the state, the oil and natural gas industry association blasted the DRBC proposal as “misguided.” They said it not only contradicts state regulations but attempts to impose environmental protections that are already well-enshrined in existing legislation.

“The Marcellus Shale is a proven opportunity to harness clean and abundant American energy to power our state and the nation and support jobs in Pennsylvania,” API-PA Executive Director Stephanie Catarino Wissman said. “Arbitrary limits on responsibly developing U.S. resources are bad public policy. If we do not produce energy, we will be more reliant on foreign sources and relinquish our ability to increase our security. The DRBC proposal could put upward pressure on energy costs for Pennsylvania families who also rely on energy development for millions of jobs.”

The organization touted a PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP report recently prepared for them that found the natural gas and oil industry in Pennsylvania supports nearly 322,600 jobs, with economic effects that go well beyond their own industry, and which brought in nearly $44.5 billion to the state’s economy in 2015.