André Béliveau in National Review: Fracking Mattered in 2024

Harrisburg, Pa, November 12, 2024 – Fracking played a major role in determining the winners and losers of Pennsylvania federal races, wrote Commonwealth Foundation senior manager for Energy Policy André Béliveau in National Review.

Béliveau explains that the fracking issue dominated the critical swing state of Pennsylvania for good reason. Between reducing the Keystone State’s carbon emissions and increasing energy abundance, fracking makes sense for Pennsylvania.

Wrote Béliveau:

“Fracking enabled American energy independence. In 2018, the United States became a net energy exporter for the first time since World War II — largely thanks to a decade’s worth of shale fracking. Relying less on foreign oil and gas provides the United States the clout and leverage it needs to manage increasingly chaotic international affairs. Now, the United States is the global leader in oil and gas production. …

Fracking has become vital to Pennsylvania’s economy. Its oil and gas sector employs tens of thousands and generates about $75 billion annually — roughly 9 percent of the state’s GDP. Each job in fracking also indirectly supports almost four other jobs in the supply chain. Meanwhile, local-government impact fees, imposed on the construction of oil and gas infrastructure to fund social services, have generated about $180 million in 2023 and about $2.7 billion since 2012.

In line with what we have seen nationally, natural gas reduced Pennsylvania’s carbon footprint drastically. While its neighbor New York cut energy production and adopted draconian environmental policies, between 2018 and 2023, Pennsylvania’s carbon emissions dropped by more than 11 percent while energy output expanded, according to Pennsylvania’s Independent Fiscal Office (IFO). Crediting the drop to natural gas in its analysis, IFO also shows that state CO₂ emissions decreased by 10.8 percent from 2022 to 2023 — the state’s largest year-over-year decrease since the 1990s. …

Fracking continues to generate significant economic gains, strengthen American energy independence, reduce carbon emissions, and stabilize our grid — and, consequently, it affects our electoral politics. It will continue to do so for the foreseeable future.”

Read Béliveau’s full op-ed here.

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The Commonwealth Foundation turns free-market ideas into public policies, fostering prosperity for all Pennsylvanians.