Listening to the state Senate debate on natural gas development was agonizing. Opponents of energy development tried every way they could to delay any progress.
Opponents of development sometimes try to obscure the issues by noting that until we drill, we don’t know for sure how much natural gas there is under our feet in North Carolina.
It’s technically true that we don’t know for sure. But by all indications there is a lot.
Yesterday the state Energy Policy Council had a meeting reviewing energy potential in the state.
State experts touched on the U.S. Geological Survey analysis of the Deep River Basin, a potential energy field within North Carolina, mostly in Lee, Moore and Chatham counties. The USGS found there is a 95 percent chance there is at least 779 billion cubic feet of natural gas in that basin.
That’s just one area. There are others, on the land and off the shore.
As senators noted, North Carolina is not leaping into the dark. Dozens of other states are already developing shale sites, and reaping thousands of jobs and millions in revenues.
After my last vacation I wrote about how fracking was bringing jobs and money to Pennsylvania, where I lived for a long time.
The Fayetteville Observer sent one of their writers up to Pennsylvania to report on what is happening. Basically, he found what I found, and what can be verified by a quick survey of the news: The development of shale energy has brought a boom to western Pennsylvania, which has been struggling economically for decades. (If you doubt me, keep an eye out for how many Pittsburgh Steelers, Penguins and Pirates bumper stickers and logos you’ll see here in NC.)
First, shale development means jobs for people who are willing to put on hard hats and work boots and go and get their hands dirty. These are the people who have been hit hardest by the economic trends of recent years. It also means good jobs for geologists and other professionals. Plus, the royalties go landowners and local governments. There are plenty of people who have been struggling to keep family farms going. There are also cities and counties outside the big cities that have struggled to pay for services for their citizens.
Yes, there are genuine issues with energy exploration. Some of those problems a lot of North Carolinians would like to have: crowded streets, new taxpayers, well-paid workers looking for a place to spend their paychecks, and moving into a higher tax bracket.
As for others, North Carolina has been dithering and fretting about this issue for years. Other states have gone ahead. We can learn from their mistakes, for which we can thank them.
But there are billions of dollars right under our feet. It’s time to go get them.
Why do Republicans hate:
1. Any “non-White” minority
2. Gay people
3. Poor people
4. Atheists
5. Anybody that isn’t American
6. The environment
7. Anybody with an education
Did I miss anyone?
Comical that you mention geologists in this piece of fossil-fuel funded propaganda, I thought they were all liberal commies, our planet after all is only 6k years old. Even more comical that you got to mention “the family farm”, I thought “the family farm” had to be sold to pay all those taxes? That’s the usual hogwash spouted by this organization.
Strive to be smarter, DaveDuke…you seem like a REAL idiot.
I thought YOU PEOPLE were all about TOLERANCE of others…..right?
WHY are YOU PEOPLE always so condescending?
You bother people like me…I pity your ignorance.
Sorry “Unaffiliated Voter”, but the real ignorance lies in the white trash of this country, ably supportd by organizations such as this, and people like yourself.
I moved to Los Angeles to get away from white trash like the people in NC. Gun grabbing raciest .
As was recently exposed when Hollywood producers were happy to take foreign oil money, those who are against increasing energy in the US, don’t seem to care that America will be hurt by their anti-energy religion. Cutting off their nose to spite their face.
“As was recently exposed when Hollywood producers were happy to take foreign oil money”. Anything that backs this up? Surely, you cannot be referencing O’keefe?
http://mediamatters.org/blog/2014/05/21/the-deceptive-edits-in-james-okeefes-fracking-h/199414
There sure is a lot of ignorant, and easily duped people here…
David, disagreement is not hatred.
Walt-in-Durham
Walt,
I beg to differ, I’ve been at some GOP/Tea-Party events, and there sure is a LOT of hatred. But, of course, it would have nothing to do with the fact our President happens to be black?