PA Gov. Corbett Outlines How Shale Gas Benefits Everyone

In a recent radio interview, Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett spoke about the Marcellus Shale drilling industry and how it positively impacts all Pennsylvanians, not just just a select few:

Republican Governor Tom Corbett broached this point while speaking with Dom Giordano on Philadelphia’s WPHT 1210 AM on May 9th after the radio host referenced a recent story that Pennsylvania gas wells generated an estimated $3.5 billion in gross revenues in 2011.

“I think people forget that what’s good for one part of the state is good for the entire state because it’s revenue to the state, it reduces unemployment, it reduces what we have to pay out in many different areas.” Corbett began.

“But it is growing the jobs of Pennsylvania all across Pennsylvania. I was sitting down in Lancaster earlier this week with an engineering firm at a dinner. And they’re telling me how they brought on – even though there’s no Marcellus here in Harrisburg and Lancaster County – they brought on 200 more employees: engineers, surveyors, and things like that to work in the Marcellus region. It shows that the jobs are growing there,” the governor emphasized.

“If you go – and let’s talk briefly about the refineries in the southeast – one of the potential uses or reuses in those Sunoco refineries – that’s potential out there – would be to turn it into an ethylene cracker facility just like Royal does. Shell is going to build in Beaver County. And Beaver County is a county that is economically depressed more so than I think any county – probably any county in the southern twenty counties in the southeast. And they certainly need it. And it’s going to provide tens of thousands of jobs.” he observed.

“If they do something like that in the refineries – if they’re not sold as is – to continue refining. That’s a good thing. That’ll be more jobs. And it also deals with – I keep reminding people what we’re doing in the port of Philadelphia trying to grow Southport. The Aker Shipyard where now there are four ships being built that are going to go out. And those are thousands of jobs for the longshoreman and for the ship workers. It is all part of growing the economy of Pennsylvania.” he concluded.*

*Examiner.com (May 14, 2012) – Gay Marriage and Marcellus Shale put PA in play