The Register-Herald, Beckley, West Virginia

Editorials

March 27, 2011

Paying attention to others

The Register-Herald

The initial meeting of the Marcellus Shale Advisory Commission in the state of Pennsylvania took place Friday in Harrisburg.

A 30-member panel has been assigned the task of assessing how the Keystone State is managing natural gas drilling, along with trying to reach some common ground as it relates to policy issues among all the parties involved.

According to the Pittsburgh Post Gazette, the group has four months to do its business and report its recommendations back to Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett.

They have divided the task up into four areas — health, safety and environmental protection; economic and workforce development; infrastructure; and local impacts and emergency response.

Seems like a pretty daunting challenge, but Pennsylvania is definitely digging into the issue.

Development of the Marcellus shale in this neighboring state is well ahead of where we are in West Virginia at this point. Earlier this week, citing an analysis done by researchers at Penn State, our own Taylor Kuykendall reported on the significant jumps in tax revenues being experienced in several counties in Pennsylvania that have active drilling sites and wells.

Widespread growth in state sales taxes and personal income taxes has also resulted.

But the authors of the study warned that the report “only reflects the early stages of natural gas drilling and does not include the cost impacts of Marcellus development on public services or the environment.”

Here in the Mountain State, it is incumbent that our elected leaders, the decision makers, are taking detailed notes and studying closely what Pennsylvania and other states are doing, all while working to design a Marcellus program that will strike the right balance for West Virginia.

Exceptional results are possible for all involved if the research and effort is deep enough and if there is an understanding that any plan has to be flexible enough to implement changes when they become necessary.

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