Pennsylvania Study Shows No Negative Impacts from Fracking

February 14, 2020

A new federal study by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), concluded there were no signs that oil and gas production in northern Pennsylvania contaminated the commonwealth’s forest rivers and streams. The study also found no evidence that fracking has significantly altered the volume or makeup of the microscopic aquatic creatures or changed the chemical composition of the water.

“No quantifiable relationships were identified between the intensity of oil-and-gas development, water composition, and the composition of benthic macroinvertebrate and microbial communities. No definitive indications that hydraulic fracturing fluid, flowback water, or produced water have entered any of the study streams were found.”

The study comes at a time where some Democratic presidential candidates have made promises to ban fracking if elected into office. Just last week, a piece of legislation was proposed in the Senate to end all U.S. onshore and offshore hydraulic fracturing activities. The left consistently tries to demonize fracking but ignores the fact it provides cost-efficient energy for American households across the country.

Power the Future recently released a study analyzing energy development in Pennsylvania, which found:

Pennsylvania has embraced the oil and natural gas industry. From 2007-2012, despite the great recession, the state experienced large job and wage growth, including: 259 percent increase of jobs in the oil and natural gas industry, 12 percent increase in average annual pay, and 36% growth in wages in the oil and natural gas industry.

According to the Pennsylvania Business Report:

Rebecca Oyler, the Pennsylvania Legislative Director for the National Federation of Independent Business, said that the study shows that fracking can provide affordable energy for the state’s economy without significant environmental risk. “The study just released by PNAS confirms what we’ve known all along,” she said, “that the responsible development of Pennsylvania’s natural gas resources is not incompatible with protecting our environment.”

A recent report from the U.S. Chamber of commerce predicted that Pennsylvania could see 609,000 jobs in the oil and gas sector disappear by 2025 if there were a fracking ban. At the same time, gasoline and natural gas bills for consumers would double at the very least.

Once again, the results show the radical policies the eco-left is pushing on the country come at a high cost, but have little positive impact. So why take away millions of energy jobs and push higher energy costs onto Americans nationwide with no benefit?