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Ohio River Valley Institute: Pennsylvania Voters Overwhelmingly Support Stricter Regulations On Fracking, New Poll Finds

On October 7, the Ohio River Valley Institute released the results of a new poll which found 90% of Pennsylvania voters support stricter regulations on the fracking industry, according to the poll conducted by Upswing Research for the Ohio River Valley Institute.

Pennsylvania voters broadly favor the clean energy industry and express concerns about air and water pollution.

Click Here for poll results narrative. Click Here for presentation slides.

Key Findings

-- 94% of Pennsylvania voters support stricter regulations on fracking, including requiring companies to disclose chemicals used in drilling operations;

-- 93% support requiring safer transportation of fracking waste;

-- 92% support expanding air monitoring near fracking wells;

-- 90% support increasing “setback” distances from schools and hospitals

-- Pennsylvanians are broadly concerned about water (86%) and air (82%) pollution.

-- Nearly eight in ten say they worry about the effects of pollution on the health of their families (79%) and communities (77%).

-- More than four in ten (43%) say fracking has a negative impact on air and water quality.

-- More than four in ten (42%) Pennsylvanians support an outright ban on fracking, and nearly half of Pennsylvanians say they’re opposed or on the fence about the practice.

-- Nearly six in ten (58%) Pennsylvanians say they distrust fracking companies to self-report environmental and public health impacts of their industry.

-- About one in five (19%) voters somewhat oppose fracking. One in ten (11%) voters say they strongly oppose the practice. An additional 19% say they’re not sure.

Clean Energy Support

Pennsylvania voters favor the clean energy industry.

-- Solar (80%) and wind (73%) are overwhelmingly popular, and a significant majority (84%) support spending taxpayer dollars on wind and solar development to increase renewable energy usage.

Failed To Generate Job Growth

Fracking development has failed to generate job growth and lasting prosperity in Pennsylvania, according to Ohio River Valley Institute research.

Since the beginning of the Appalachian shale gas boom in 2008, the twenty-two largest gas producing counties in Pennsylvania, Ohio, and West Virginia have lost a collective 10,000 jobs and nearly 50,000 residents, even as gas production far outpaced industry expectations.

As of 2021, oil and gas industry jobs comprised just 1.44% of total jobs in the Commonwealth.

Because fracking development creates few jobs per dollar invested, it offers a poorer foundation for job and economic growth than “high-multiplier” industries like energy efficiency, clean energy development, education, and other sectors that can enhance quality of life.

Job-intensive infrastructure upgrades, efficiency improvements, and measures to repair fossil fuel damage, including repairing roads and bridges (99%), weatherizing homes to make them more energy efficient (96%), cleaning up old oil and gas wells (95%), and reclaiming abandoned mine lands (86%), enjoy broad support among Pennsylvania voters.

Contributes To Rising Electricity Bills

Fracking development may also be contributing to Pennsylvanians’ rising electricity bills.

From 2009 through March 2024, the average retail price of electricity leapt by 3.21 cents per kilowatt hour in Pennsylvania as the state’s share of natural gas increased by 16%.

Residential rates have risen faster in Pennsylvania than the rest of the nation.

More than nine in ten (93%) Pennsylvania voters are concerned about rising utility bills, and nearly three-quarters (74%) say the cost of energy has gone up in the past year.

Click Here for the complete announcement of the poll results.

NewsClips:

-- The Center Square - Anthony Hennen: Fracking Poll: More, But Not Too Many, Regulations Supported By PA Voters

-- WHYY - Susan Phillips: Fracking In Pennsylvania Hasn’t Gone As Well As Some May Think

-- The Allegheny Front - Susan Phillips: Fracking In Pennsylvania Hasn’t Gone As Well As Some May Think

-- The Guardian: LNG Gas Has Far Worse Climate Emissions Than Coal, Cornell Study Finds

-- Bloomberg: LNG Gas Ships Now Diverting To Europe, Away From Asia, To Tap Price Increases Driven By Mideast War Fears [This Week]

-- Bloomberg: LNG Gas Traders Choose To Pay Penalties For Not Shipping Gas To Germany To Chase Higher Profits In Asia [Last Week]

PA Oil & Gas Industry Public Notice Dashboards:

-- PA Oil & Gas Weekly Compliance Dashboard - October 5 to 18 - Conventional Well Owners Issued 767 Violations For Abandoning Their Wells - So Far, More Than Double Number In 2019; Leaking Gas Storage Area Wells [PaEN]

-- PA Oil & Gas Industrial Facilities: Permit Notices, Opportunities To Comment - October 12 [PaEN]

-- PA Oil & Gas Industrial Facilities: Permit Notices, Opportunities To Comment - October 19 [PaEN]

-- DEP Posted 87 Pages Of Permit-Related Notices In October 12 PA Bulletin [PaEN]

-- DEP Posted 57 Pages Of Permit-Related Notices In October 19 PA Bulletin [PaEN]

Related Articles This Week:

-- Pennsylvania Voters Overwhelmingly Support Stricter Regulations On Fracking, New Poll Finds [PaEN]

-- Saint Vincent College Study Finds Counties With Shale Gas Fracking Wells Using Chemicals That Target Certain Hormones Have Greater Incidence Of Pre-Term Births, Low Birth Weights [PaEN]

-- Beaver County Residents Invited To Join An Oct. 23 In-Person Tour Of Shale Gas Fracking Sites & Infrastructure In Washington County And Discover Its Costs [PaEN]

-- Observer-Reporter Letter: There’s Another Side To The 'Shale Gas Revolution' [PaEN]

-- Sen. Bartolotta, Sen. Yaw Announce Bill To Withhold Gas Drilling Impact Fees To Municipalities That Set More Protective Standards On Natural Gas Development Than State Law, And While There Is a Legal Challenge To Local Restrictions [PaEN]

-- Observer-Reporter Guest Essay: Why Politicians Want You To Pay More For Natural Gas - By Patrick McDonnell, CEO of PennFuture, Former Secretary of DEP [PaEN]

-- PJM Interconnection Winter Outlook: Adequate Power Supplies Available Under Normal Conditions; PJM Delays Next Power Auction After Prices Spike [PaEN]

-- The Derrick: PUC Judge Issues Emergency Order Appointing Aqua Pennsylvania As Temporary Operator For 6 Rhodes Estate Water Companies [Serious Community Impacts Continue From Conventional Oil Well Spill In Venango County] [PaEN]

-- DEP Begins Accepting Applications For New Methane Reduction Grants To Plug Conventional Oil, Gas Wells Oct. 16 [PaEN]

-- Evangelical Environmental Network Delivers Over 36,000 Comments From Pro-Life Christians To Gov. Shapiro, DEP In Support Of Strong Oil & Gas Industry Methane Emission Controls [PaEN]

-- Beaver County Marcellus Awareness Community Receives Grant To Strengthen Communications and Community Engagement Initiatives [PaEN]

-- Susquehanna River Basin Conditions Trigger Low-Flow Water Use Restrictions At 9 Shale Gas Water Withdrawals In Bradford, Susquehanna, Tioga Counties [PaEN]

-- DEP Invites Comments On Proposed Air Quality General Permit (GP-16) Covering Gaseous Fuel-Fired Spark Ignition Internal Combustion Engines [Copy Of Documents ]

-- Team PA & Clean Air Task Force Convene Leaders To Discuss Challenges, Opportunities Of Industrial Decarbonization; DOE Provides Update On Decarbonization Investments In PA [PaEN]

-- Beaver County Marcellus Awareness Community Urges EPA To Move Forward With Strong Regulation Of Vinyl Chloride Under Federal Toxic Substances Control Act, While Calling For A Ban [PaEN]

-- EPA Files $4.2 Million Settlement Of Air Pollution Violations For 2019 Philadelphia Refinery Explosion, Fire; Public Comments Invited [PaEN]

NewsClips:

-- The Energy Age Blog: ‘Amity & Prosperity’ By Eliza Griswold Thrust Fracking In Washington County, PA Into The National Spotlight