Who’s got more natural gas: Pennsylvania or a nursing home after beans night?! 🙊🫘
With all this talk about fracking, you might think that’s the biggest deal in today’s energy world. However, the low natural gas prices in PA might be more of a biggie. 🧐
Here’s Five Fast Facts on natural gas in PA:
- 💥 Here Comes the Boom - Over the last 20 years, the American shale boom made natural gas cheaper than coal, increasing the demand. But in PA today, the tune has changed a bit. Southwestern PA is so full of natural gas that prices have hit rock bottom. Drilling slowed way down and thousands of jobs have dried up.
- 📉 Highs and Lows - Natural gas prices had a brief surge in 2022 after Russia invaded Ukraine. However, over the last two years, prices in PA tanked by 80%. This month, gas traded around $1.50 in the market.
- 👷 Workin’ for the Weekend - The massive price drops have done a doozy on jobs. In 2023, PA oil and gas employment fell to its lowest level in a decade. They dropped to 20,000 down from 35,000 in 2014.
- 📊 Frack Job - Fracking (AKA the way they get natural gas out of the ground) has grown in popularity. Polls show Pennsylvanians are torn on whether or not to allow it. In a 2022 poll, 48% of PA citizens supported the practice and 44% opposed it. Two thirds of those polled said fracking puts the water supply in jeopardy, but 86% said it was important for the state’s economy.
- ⛏️ Well, Well, Well - More than a third of Pennsylvanians live in counties with shale wells. The boom started in the 2000s and natural gas wells exist everywhere from farms to suburban neighborhoods.
🔥Bottom line: Both presidential candidates are OK with fracking. Trump has always supported it. Harris opposed it in the past, but now says she doesn’t. Another big topic in PA is the fate of U.S. Steel. A big business deal with a Japanese company is causing a stir! We covered all those details in this article.
Do you support fracking?
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