Education

Education | Industrywide Issues | Seismic Testing | Upshur County | West Virginia

“Listen” Up: WV College Offers New NatGas Geophysics Major
May 7, 2014May 7, 2014

West Virginia Wesleyan College, a private college in Buckhannon (Upshur County), WV, sits in the midst of Marcellus drilling country. So it only makes sense for the school to want to tap into the industry and offer a degree related to the booming shale industry. But instead of offering a “me too” degree in petroleum engineering, Wesleyan has decided to focus its degree on the fascinating area of geophysics–or more properly seismic readings and determining “what’s down there” by bouncing sound waves through the rock. All of the new degree programs being offered by schools in the northeast are needed–along with good jobs training programs offered by community colleges (in areas like welding). However, we applaud Wesleyan, a smaller school of some 1,400 students, for staking out a different path to assist the industry. Kids, “listen” up! Geophysics is a great field.

Here’s the Wesleyan announcement about their new program, set to begin this August…
Read More ““Listen” Up: WV College Offers New NatGas Geophysics Major”
Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Coterra Energy (Cabot O&G) | Education | Energy Companies | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Susquehanna County

Retired J-School Prof Says Lackawanna College a Shale Prostitute
April 28, 2014April 28, 2014

A old hippie retread that fancies himself as a journalist (he’s a retired professor of mass communications) has the unmitigated gall to call Lackawanna College a “prostitute” for accepting a $2.5 million endowment from Cabot Oil & Gas (see Cabot Oil & Gas Does it Again – $2.5 Million Gift to Lackawanna College). This same retired prof–Walter M. Brasch–calls the woman who is the voice in this video a “peaceful grandmother” that Cabot tried to hush up. In other words, he’s clueless. Is it any wonder the so-called reporters we have these days are inept, when taught by people like Brasch?

Back to the good prof and his bloviating: We wonder, Prof. Brasch, the $4.4 million Cabot helped raise for a rural hospital–a project on the books for decades and going nowhere until Cabot stepped in (see Cabot Effort Raises $4.4 Million for PA Physicians Clinic)–does Cabot’s money make the hospital a prostitute too? Would it have been better to not build the new hospital? What if the Heinz Endowments, an anti-drilling non-profit backed by lib idol Teresa Heinz Kerry had given money to Lackawanna College or the hospital? Would they still be prostitutes by accepting her money? And what about NY anti-drilling crusader Helen Slottje–in wacko San Fransciso today (see our story) to receive a $150,000 award from the Goldman Foundation. She’s getting it for trying to ban fracking in NY. Does that award make her a prostitute? Why not? If the shoe fits…
Read More “Retired J-School Prof Says Lackawanna College a Shale Prostitute”
Allegheny County | Education | Industrywide Issues | Jobs | Pennsylvania

President Visits Pittsburgh to Talk Jobs, Ignores Shale Jobs
April 21, 2014April 21, 2014

Well, we hate to say “we told you so,” but, well, we told you so. Last Wednesday President Obama and his oafish sidekick Joe “the clown” Biden “took a little road trip” according to the Pres, to visit the Community College of Allegheny County West Hills Center in North Fayette, PA (near Pittsburgh). The purpose of the trip was to dole out gobs of your hard-earned money to community college professors and students (nothing against either, except when it’s my money going to them!). The Pres announced $600 million in new money–from his Presidential “stash” no doubt. He figures your money will help create jobs out there in flyover country.

We pointed out published comments from both Dave Spigelmyer, president of the Marcellus Shale Coalition, and Stephanie Wissman, executive director of the Associated Petroleum Industries of Pennsylvania, encouraging the Pres to acknowledge the major role Marcellus Shale drilling has played in creating jobs in western PA (see Obama/Biden Pittsburgh Visit Today: Don’t Expect NatGas Praise). Did either the Pres or sidekick Biden give at least a passing nod to shale and the hundreds of thousands of jobs the shale industry has created in the past half dozen years? Nope. Which is just what we predicted. Admitting the private sector is the best jobs-creating engine in existence doesn’t fit the narrative that big government creates jobs. Interestingly, only 300 people turned out for the event. We’ve been to town hall meetings for pipelines with more people than that! Here’s a recap of what the Pres did talk about last week on his shaleless visit to Pittsburgh…
Read More “President Visits Pittsburgh to Talk Jobs, Ignores Shale Jobs”
Coterra Energy (Cabot O&G) | Education | Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Lackawanna County | Pennsylvania | Susquehanna County

Cabot Oil & Gas Does it Again – $2.5 Million Gift to Lackawanna College
April 11, 2014April 11, 2014

Everyone knows how mercenary and evil those oil and gas companies are. They’re just in it for the buck. Rape and pillage poor Mother Earth–pollute the air, pollute the water, pollute everything! Those shale drillers are actually some of the worst, ya know. That’s what the anti-drilling left would have you believe. That’s the meme constantly drummed by mainstream media. Throw in a “Halliburton loophole” and “Dimock” or maybe a “Pavillion, Wyoming” and you’re good to go with the typical mainstream coverage of our industry. Just a teeny, tiny problem…none of it is true.

MDN previously told you about Cabot Oil & Gas’ largess in helping raise $4.4 million for a rural hospital in Montrose, PA (see Cabot Effort Raises $4.4 Million for PA Physicians Clinic). Of that $4.4 million, Cabot themselves donated $2.2 million to the kitty. That is serious money folks. And now, Cabot has done it again. Today, if you’re reading this on April 11, 2014, Cabot announced a $2.5 million gift to Lackawanna College (Scranton, PA). The gift will directly fund the School of Petroleum & Natural Gas located in New Milford, PA. It marks the largest single private donation in the history of Lackawanna College. Kudos to Cabot! Cabot is a sterling company–one of the backbones of the Marcellus Shale, the biggest (and best) shale play in the United States…
Read More “Cabot Oil & Gas Does it Again – $2.5 Million Gift to Lackawanna College”
Education | Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Noble Energy | Statewide WV | West Virginia

Noble Energy Donates $250K to WV Community College Program
March 28, 2014March 28, 2014

Noble Energy certainly live up to it’s name of “noble.” Earlier this week Noble announced a $250,000 one-time gift to the West Virginia Community College’s new Appalachian Petroleum Technology Training Center. The Center offers one-year certifications and two-year degrees in petroleum technology–just one of 14 programs in the country like it. MDN previously wrote about the new program in May 2013 (see New Appalachian Petroleum Technology Training Center in WV). Graduates coming from the program have the ability to earn between $60,000-$100,000 per year–starting! It’s a fabulous program and Noble has really stepped up to the plate to ensure the program not only survives, but thrives–so kudos to Noble.

Here’s the announcement from the Community and Technical College System of West Virginia (WVCTCS):
Read More “Noble Energy Donates $250K to WV Community College Program”
Education | Industrywide Issues | Jobs | Mahoning County | Ohio | Statewide OH | Utica Shale

Welders Needed in Utica/Marcellus – Training Options in Mahoning
February 4, 2014February 4, 2014

Of all the jobs in the Marcellus and Utica Shale that need qualified, skilled people in them, perhaps none is more needed (right now) than welding. According to Marty Loney, training director for Local 396 in Mahoning County, OH, there’s a shortage right now of between 2,000-3,000 welders for the Utica and Marcellus in the Mahoning Valley area. Local 396 has developed an innovative apprenticeship program to address the need (although it takes five years to complete). Other organizations, like the Trumbull Career and Technical Center also train welders and other hands-on types of jobs for the drilling industry.

Here’s a good review of a couple of training options for those interested in getting a hands-on job in the Marcellus/Utica in the tri-state area when it comes to welding and other physical jobs:
Read More “Welders Needed in Utica/Marcellus – Training Options in Mahoning”
Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Education | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Statewide OH

Radio Disney Pressured, Pulls Out of OH O&G Education Program
January 13, 2014January 13, 2014

Radio Disney had been participating in a tour of elementary schools in Ohio as part of an education project that, among other things, educates kids on how oil and gas drilling and pipelines work. Called “Rocking in Ohio” the program’s intent is to foster interest in science and technology. Because the tour is sponsored by the Ohio and Gas Energy Education Program and partially funded by the drilling industry, the anti-drilling brigade came out in force and has now pressured Disney into withdrawing from the program. We can’t have the truth getting out there in song and dance, ya know!

Few American-based media outlets are covering the story, so we have to get the Disney story from the pro-terrorist Al Jazeera America network. You know, the network that paid Al Gore a gazillion dollars for his dying Current TV network, finally making Al a rich man and giving Al Jazeera access to American airways to spread their garbage. The network that hires CNN has-beens like Soledad O’Brien to put a pretty face on an ugly network. The network that loves to air terrorists beheading people? Yeah, that network–the network owned by Middle Eastern oil sheiks who fear fracking will end their massive wealth gives us the Disney pulling out in Ohio story…
Read More “Radio Disney Pressured, Pulls Out of OH O&G Education Program”
CNG/LNG | Coterra Energy (Cabot O&G) | Education | Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Lackawanna County | Luzerne County | NG Vehicles | Pennsylvania | Wyoming County (PA)

Cabot’s Big CNG Celebration at Johnson College in Scranton, PA
November 8, 2013November 8, 2013

Yesterday Cabot Oil & Gas held a “CNG Celebration” at Johnson College in Scranton, PA. Unfortunately MDN could not be on hand to help celebrate. However, we do have a couple of stories to bring you from that event.

The purpose of the event was several-fold: announce Johnson College’s curriculum expansion with new courses in compressed natural gas (CNG) technology and eventually a certification (with financial and technical assistance from Cabot); PA DEP Sec. Chris Abruzzo was on hand to announce $3 million in grants to businesses and organizations to purchase or retrofit vehicles to run CNG (see our companion story today); welcome the Marcellus Shale Coalition’s new executive director, David Spigelmyer; and show off some impressive big trucks and other vehicles running CNG. “Celebration” is an appropriate word that about covers it!…
Read More “Cabot’s Big CNG Celebration at Johnson College in Scranton, PA”
Coterra Energy (Cabot O&G) | Education | Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Luzerne County | Pennsylvania

Cabot to Teach Hazelton, PA 9th Graders How to Frack
August 28, 2013August 28, 2013

Ninth-grade students at a new magnet school opening this fall in the Hazelton, PA area will be taught a series of lessons on the technology, economics and environmental issues related to fracking and shale gas drilling. The plan calls for the school’s teachers to lead four lessons in the series, an “environmentalist” (i.e. anti-driller) will teach one lesson, and someone from Cabot Oil & Gas, the northeast PA driller funding the program, will teach two of the lessons. There’s sure to be stiff opposition to Cabot’s involvement from the anti-drillers. “Fair” to them would be Cabot pays for the whole thing but anti-drillers are the only voices heard in the classroom. Not this time!

MDN finds it amusing the program will feature a mock town hall meeting complete with squabbling neighbors and people falsely claiming their water wells have been contaminated. We need to learn ’em young, ya know…
Read More “Cabot to Teach Hazelton, PA 9th Graders How to Frack”
Coterra Energy (Cabot O&G) | Education | Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Lackawanna County | Pennsylvania

Lackawanna College NatGas Program to Get Boost from Obama Visit
August 22, 2013August 22, 2013

MDN attended and reported on the grand opening of a new CNG fueling station in Susquehanna County, PA last week (see Cabot Launches CNG Fueling Station in NE PA). One of the presenters at that event was Mark Volk, president of Lackawanna College. Dr. Volk was there to sing the praises of Cabot Oil & Gas and their key support for Lackawanna’s new-but-rapidly-growing Petroleum & Natural Gas Technology program. Cabot has not only contributed money but also equipment and expertise to the program, one of only four or five programs like it in the country.

Lackawanna College–a 1,600-student, private 2-year school near Scranton, PA–is about to emerge on the national stage in a big way, and by extension, Cabot as well. President Obama will visit the school tomorrow (Friday, August 23) and deliver a speech “to the nation and world” from Lackawanna, no doubt touting the role of Lackawanna in preparing students through programs like the Petroleum & Natural Gas Technology program. In honor of President Obama’s visit and to celebrate Obama’s recognition of the importance of an educated workforce for the northeast and particularly for the vitally important oil and gas industry, Cabot’s own George Stark has penned the following exclusive “guest post” for MDN readers…
Read More “Lackawanna College NatGas Program to Get Boost from Obama Visit”
Belmont County | Education | Energy Companies | Hess | Industrywide Issues | Jobs | Ohio

Hess Sets Up Scholarship Program at Belmont College
August 19, 2013August 19, 2013

Utica driller Hess Corporation and Belmont College (St. Clairsville, OH) announced last Friday that Hess has established a scholarship program that will make “multiple awards” of scholarships of up to $3,000 per student per year at Belmont. Students may be enrolled in either full- or part-time programs working on either an associates degree or a certificate.

The aim of the program is to help train non-traditional students–those out of work and downsized from a previous job. The awards are not just for those seeking energy-related jobs either…
Read More “Hess Sets Up Scholarship Program at Belmont College”
Coterra Energy (Cabot O&G) | Education | Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Lackawanna County | Pennsylvania

PA Teachers: Free Climate Change/Energy Course Courtesy Cabot O&G
July 8, 2013July 8, 2013

Cabot Oil & Gas is serious about helping the local Pennsylvania communities in which they operate. A case in point previously highlighted on MDN: Cabot’s key fundraising role that got a 20 year-old stalled project of building a new hospital in rural Montrose, PA off the ground (see Cabot Effort Raises $4.4 Million for PA Physicians Clinic).

And now, yet another example: Because of Cabot’s generous donation, the normal $300 fee to attend Keystone College’s “summer camp” for 7-12 grade teachers (July 22-26) to study climate change and energy is now free! Continuing education credits available. Here’s the low-down on the program and how teachers (and other interested members of the community) may attend:
Read More “PA Teachers: Free Climate Change/Energy Course Courtesy Cabot O&G”
Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Crawford County | Education | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania

Allegheny College Faces Green Monster of Its Own Making
July 5, 2013July 5, 2013

This is truly rich. Allegheny College, a private, exclusive, rich coeducational liberal arts college (2,100 students, tuition $38,750/year) in the northwestern PA town of Meadville has been a national leader in ~~brainwashing~~ teaching young college kids about the morally superior ways of so-called sustainability and worshiping Mother Earth and all things “green.” But dang, some of those nasty fossil fuel companies are waving big bucks in front of Allegheny College to lease some of the college’s land. Specifically, drillers want to lease, wait for it… the 283-acre Allegheny College Environmental Research Reserve. Talk about ironic! Like taking a bite from the apple all those years ago in Eden, it seems the temptation is just too much for Allegheny.

The college has assembled a ~~white-wash~~ working committee of faculty, staff and students to try, somehow, desperately, to justify selling their souls to the fracking devil so they can take those piles of money. Problem is, the college has created a legion of true green believers who now feel violated, betrayed, confused that the very institution they pay $38,750/year to teach them to hate all fossil fuels would possibly consider changing course for filthy lucre…
Read More “Allegheny College Faces Green Monster of Its Own Making”
Carroll County | Economic Impact | Education | Housing | Industrialization | Industrywide Issues | Jobs | Ohio | Taxation | Trucking

The Positives, and Negatives, of Shale Gas Drilling
June 17, 2013June 17, 2013

No one pretends there are not negatives when it comes to oil and gas drilling, least of all MDN. There are some drawbacks–but the negatives must be weighed against the positives. Local business and government leaders in Carroll County, OH (the county with the most Utica Shale wells drilled, so far), had a frank discussion of the both the good and the bad in a recent meeting with State Rep. Andy Thompson, R-Marietta.

Highlights of the good and the bad when it comes to shale drilling:
Read More “The Positives, and Negatives, of Shale Gas Drilling”
Education | Industrywide Issues | Jobs | Statewide WV | West Virginia

Grads: Want a High-Paying Job? Look in the Marcellus/Utica
June 10, 2013June 10, 2013

Not that we haven’t already covered the topic of “get a job in the gas industry if you want to make really really good money” many times before. At this time of year with high school graduations aplenty, it doesn’t hurt to remind new graduates about the facts one more time.

So, how much money can you make working in the gas industry? A lot…
Read More “Grads: Want a High-Paying Job? Look in the Marcellus/Utica”
Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Education | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Lehigh County | Pennsylvania

Allentown, PA Children Brainwashed Against Fracking
June 3, 2013June 3, 2013

It’s sick and it’s twisted: Brainwash school children against fracking so the next generation coming along will someday ban it. Oh, and while you’re at it, call it “art” and pretend you care more about the environment than anyone else. Foolish, sick, dumb. That’s what it really is.

Ignorance was on full display over the weekend in Allentown, PA as less than 50 people gathered (with media coverage of course) to act out skits about how fracking harms the environment and people. A group of local young (and old) “artists” from Allentown, with funding from Yoko Ono (who’s taste in art is decidedly pornographic), pimped and made fools of themselves for Ono’s anti-fossil fuel group:
Read More “Allentown, PA Children Brainwashed Against Fracking”