Republicans in Pennsylvania’s House of Representatives this week introduced several measures to boost fossil fuel production in the Keystone State, including a resumption of new state land drilling leases.
Governor Tom Wolf (D) imposed a moratorium on new leases for oil and gas development on state-owned areas in January 2015. A bill authored by State Representative Clint Owlett (R-Wellsboro) would rescind that order and stipulate that all energy exploration performed under any resulting leases be subsurface. That means that the well site must be built off of commonwealth property and that underground channels would reach horizontally into the public lands, allowing for better environmental preservation than older drilling methods.
“Pennsylvania is in a great position to lead our nation towards energy independence,” Owlett said. “With the technology that we have now, we can access a vast majority of the natural gas on our state lands without even setting foot on our state lands.”
Another bill offered by State Rep. Jonathan Fritz (R-Honesdale) would permit the resumption of hydraulic fracturing for natural gas extraction in the Delaware River Basin territory.
Republicans and moderate Democrats have taken a renewed interest in augmenting the state’s fossil fuel production in recent weeks. The price of gasoline in Pennsylvania continues to skyrocket because of both general inflation and the international energy crisis caused by the Russia-Ukraine conflict. According to AAA Mid-Atlantic, the per-gallon cost of regular gasoline rose 62 cents over the last week to $4.40.
Foreign policy has also been a major part of the impetus behind the new legislation. Owlett mentioned that Russia derives 40 percent of its government financing from its fossil fuel exports and reasoned that the free world must reduce its dependence on Russian oil to extricate itself from culpability for aiding Russia’s aggression against Ukraine.
“Let’s be real,” Owlett said. “Our current reliance on foreign oil and gas is one of the reasons that we’re here. When we rely so heavily on another country’s foundational needs such as energy, we essentially become enslaved to them to some degree.”
House Republicans noted that, despite President Joe Biden’s ban on Russian oil imports this week, such a sanction will have limited impact because America’s European allies cannot afford to take such action.
Also this week, State Rep. Martina White (R-Philadelphia) announced legislation that would form a task force to examine ways to better position Pennsylvania as an exporter of liquefied natural gas, with an eye toward lessening Russian dominance in energy exports.
House Republicans further bemoaned that Russian interests have allegedly exercised undue influence over American energy policy by donating to anti-fossil fuel groups. For instance, then-North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Secretary-General Anders Rasmussen said in 2014, “Russia, as part of their sophisticated information and disinformation operations, engaged actively with so-called non-governmental organizations — environmental organizations working against shale gas — to maintain European dependence on imported Russian gas.”
A bill sponsored by State Rep. Josh Kail (R-Monaca) would thus bar any advocacy organization in Pennsylvania from receiving financial contributions from any foreign entity.
“We should not have foreign interference in our energy policy [or] in our policy at all, just like we don’t want foreign interference in our elections,” Kail insisted.
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Bradley Vasoli is managing editor of The Pennsylvania Daily Star. Follow Brad on Twitter at @BVasoli. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Clint Owlett” by Clint Owlett.
