Wind Farm Project Canceled Due to Cheap Marcellus Gas
Those who oppose natural gas drilling do so because it threatens their ideology that renewable energy should be the only available option. Renewable energy supporters don’t seem to care that it costs 3-5 times more (that’s 300-500 percent more) for electricity from renewable sources than from fossil fuel sources. Rather than celebrate our good fortune in finding a cheap, abundant source of something that pollutes far less than other sources—shale gas—they attack it and claim it’s just as bad as the dirtiest coal. It’s sad, really.
Here’s yet another example of so-called renewables failing the economic test, an example sure to push some of the antis over the edge. It looks like the $1 billion Great Lakes offshore wind farm is yes, out of wind (bad pun intended). And the reason why it’s being canceled? Marcellus Shale gas—abundant, and cheap.
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Shell Oil is “nearing a decision” on where to build a multi-billion dollar ethylene cracker plant in the Marcellus region, and states in that region—specifically Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Ohio—are aggressively competing to have the plant built in their state. (See 
Now we know why it’s called “The Mighty Marcellus.” New production figures for the first six months of 2011 show that on all counts—natural gas, gas liquids, and even oil—the Marcellus Shale in Pennsylvania is producing a tremendous amount of new energy. Figures for the southwestern part of PA show a 55 percent increase in production over the previous six month period.
Chesapeake Energy CEO Aubrey McClendon on Monday appeared on Jim Cramer’s Mad Money show on CNBC to talk about the company’s new, oil-rich discovery in the Utica Shale of eastern Ohio. He had some fascinating things to say, including that he expects there to be some 25,000 wells drilled in the Ohio Utica Shale, and that there will be $10 billion per year for at least 20 years (or $200 billion) of investments in the Ohio Utica Shale alone. Yikes! No wonder Gov. John Kasich is “gushing” about Chesapeake’s discovery. An investment of 1/5 of a trillion dollars is a major big deal for Ohio—not only for landowners but also for businesses and for those who will be employed by drilling and associated industries. You cannot overstate how important this discovery is.
MDN has previously commented on the obvious vendetta by the New York Times against the natural gas industry, most particularly in articles written by Ian Urbina (