Marcellus Shale Coalition: Natural gas delivers for all Pennsylvanians
Energy has distinguished Pennsylvania among states and nations dating back to the 19th century through economy-driving discoveries and advancements. The 21st century produced yet another game-changer with the successful development of prolific amounts from the prolific Marcellus Shale.
World-class resources, innovative technologies and an unmatched regional workforce have provided beneficial energy and environmental outcomes that are sustaining Pennsylvania's future and bettering lives across the entire commonwealth.
Pennsylvania's modern natural gas industry has transformed the U.S. into a global energy powerhouse, providing the essential clean fuel that hundreds of millions of consumers rely on each day and keeping our economy moving.
Thanks to this abundant, reliable and affordable resource, we've benefitted from an improved environment, especially cleaner air, as well as a surge in manufacturing and small business growth. Energy abundance translated into American energy security and enhanced national security.
While Pennsylvania is the nation's second largest natural gas producer — behind only Texas — what does that mean for our economy and hardworking Pennsylvania families?
A new study we recently released estimates the natural gas industry in Pennsylvania contributed $41.4 billion in economic activity during 2022, boosting the commonwealth's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) — a measure of economic impact — by nearly $25 billion in one year alone.
These positive benefits include good-paying jobs — a strong hedge for workers against uncertain economic times. From engineers to accountants, to skilled union laborers and data scientists, Pennsylvania natural gas is reviving the middle class by providing a range of careers. These Pennsylvania-based jobs also provide opportunities for workers young and old to find employment opportunities close to home.
According to our research, the average yearly pay of a Pennsylvania natural gas industry job is more than $97,000 — or 113% higher than the state's average median wage. What's more, as our economic impact report shows, the industry supports more than 123,000 direct jobs across the commonwealth.
The modern natural gas industry recognizes that continuous improvement across every aspect of the sector is essential to delivering sustained results that further improve both our environment and our economy. Research and development, forward-looking solutions and new technologies will enable this continued progress. Some of these advancements capitalize on the low-carbon attributes of natural gas.
For example, advances in hydrogen production from natural gas and carbon capture and storage (CCS) can help decarbonize certain hard to reach sectors of the economy. These up-and-coming technologies integrated with the effective engineering solutions that are broadly deployed across our industry position natural gas at center stage of our energy and climate future.
The opportunity to maximize our natural gas benefits is truly generational — that's a fact, not an overstatement. Indeed, a new Potential Gas Committee report confirms that our nation has a 100-plus year supply of natural gas, underscoring Pennsylvania's important role in meeting the growing energy needs of not just our nation, but our world for years to come.
Natural gas not only improves our economy and our environment, but it also generates significant royalty payments as well as tax revenues to fund essential services that help all Pennsylvanians.
As noted in our new study, Pennsylvania's natural gas industry paid $5.8 billion in federal, state and local taxes in 2022 alone. Payments to royalty owners, including farmers, governments and others who lease the right to develop resources they own totaled approximately $6.3 billion in 2022.
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With the right policies that prioritize the safe development and expanded use of reliable Pennsylvania natural gas, we're confident — as the new data shows — that the commonwealth's future will be brighter, our economy will be stronger and more diverse, and America will be more secure.
David Callahan is president of the Pittsburgh-based Marcellus Shale Coalition (MarcellusCoalition.org).
This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Marcellus Shale Coalition touts economic benefits of natural gas
