Michael McCown: Protect Gas Industry from Overregulation
Charleston Gazette
4 April 2011
CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- As president of the Independent Oil and Gas
Association of West Virginia, I represent an industry that makes it
possible for almost 35,000 West Virginians to have high-paying jobs
with excellent benefits.
Recently, some elected officials in West Virginia have decided that
they would put those 35,000 jobs in jeopardy. With our state
unemployment rate hovering around 10 percent, now is not the time to be
threatening West Virginia jobs. Now is a time to be creating jobs, and
the West Virginia natural gas industry has the potential to create
7,000 new jobs.
The natural gas industry is one of the leading growth industries in our
state. If we were to halt drilling for natural gas it would have
devastating consequences to our economy. We are in direct competition
for the production of natural gas with other states in our region,
namely Pennsylvania. If we make it more difficult for production to
occur here, companies will move their operations out of West Virginia
and it will cost our workers their jobs and their livelihoods.
The natural gas industry supports reasonable and measured regulation.
We have supported reasonable permit fees increases so that the
Department of Environmental Production can hire more inspectors. We
spent six months working with the Department of Transportation to
create the Department of Highways Oil and Gas Road Policy and we
continue to work with DEP on water quality issues.
We welcome additional regulation, but we must ensure that it is done in
a manner that continues make the production of natural gas in West
Virginia attractive to companies.
We want to ensure production is done in a safe and environmentally
friendly manner. Natural gas is the cleanest of all fossil fuels, and
99 percent of the natural gas we use comes from North America.
Producing natural gas simply is the best energy choice for the
environment because its production leaves a minimal lasting footprint.
Producing natural gas is also the best choice for our country because
the production will allow us to stop depending so much on foreign
sources of energy.
West Virginia is poised to be the country's leader in natural gas
production. Currently, 53 of West Virginia's 55 counties have natural
gas operations. Including the Marcellus formation, we have over 100
trillion cubic feet of proven natural gas reserves right here in West
Virginia. We need to protect our abundant source of homegrown energy so
we can take full advantage of this energy and economic boom.
The development of the Marcellus formation is essential to the future
of the natural gas industry and the future of West Virginia. Due to the
recent industry activity, the amount of property tax the industry pays
out has more than doubled since 2005, with 2010 payouts being over $105
million. This is money that goes directly into our local communities,
namely our public school system. With the Marcellus development we are
able to drastically reduce the number of well sites. One Marcellus well
is approximately equivalent to 15 conventional wells and multiple wells
are drilled on one site, meaning the footprint and impact on the
environment is greatly reduced.
West Virginia is at a crossroads right now. If we take the unnecessary
and drastic step of halting the drilling of natural gas it will take
years, if not decades, for us to realize the economic success we have
before us right now. The DEP has stated that they have the necessary
resources to regulate the industry currently, so we need to proceed
with production. We must not only keep our men and women working, but
create an environment that will put thousands more to work in the years
to come. This is the time where we have to make the decision to move
forward and allow progress to lead us into the future.
McCown, of Clarksburg, is president of the Independent Oil and Gas
Association of West Virginia.