Washington Targets Ohio Shale Gas

On the same day two weeks ago, Ohioans saw the following diverging headlines:

In the Cleveland Plain Dealer: "Republic Steel to add 450 jobs to Lorain as oil and gas exploration booms." This story reported Republic Steel's announcement of new jobs in one of Ohio's hardest-hit counties, to manufacture products in support of the state's growing oil and gas industry.

In the Marion Star: "Ohio national forest halts sale of drilling rights." This story reported the U.S. Department of Agriculture's decision to suspend the auction of leases for oil and gas drilling on more than 3,000 acres of federal land in the most economically depressed region of Ohio.

You might be asking yourself: Why would Washington block drilling in Ohio at the same time that Ohio manufacturers are adding jobs to support the state's growing oil and gas exploration? Thousands of middle-class families and out-of-work Ohioans are asking that same question.

Perhaps the most accurate answer is found in a statement by the president of the Laborers' International Union of North America after the Obama administration's recent decision to delay the Keystone XL pipeline. "The administration chose to support environmentalists over jobs," Terry O'Sullivan said. "Job-killers win, American workers lose."

One might think that American anger with the Keystone decision would have made the White House avoid blocking more jobs. Yet, on Nov. 15, five days after it delayed Keystone, the administration again sided with radical special interests over blue-collar workers.

The Ohio leases would have included parcels in three counties badly hurting for jobs. Two of the counties, Perry and Gallia, have unemployment rates above the national average, at 10.7% and 9.8%, respectively. Nearby Pike and Meigs counties, from which energy production would have drawn workers, have unemployment rates as high as 15.1% and 13.2%, respectively.

Adding to the public outrage here is the position taken by Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown, who this week announced his support of the federal government's job-killing decision. Even though the vilification of Ohio's abundant coal, oil and gas disproportionately hurts jobs and energy prices here, Mr. Brown has chosen to side with Washington bureaucrats and fringe extremists in the attacks on our natural resources.

Aggressive and responsible exploration of Ohio's Utica shale, combined with continued mining of more than 20 million tons of coal here every year, can revolutionize Ohio's economy. A September study for the Ohio Oil & Gas Energy Education Program found that production in the Utica shale formation has the potential to create more than 200,000 Ohio jobs by the year 2015.

Beyond employing men and women on the rigs, this exploration will produce new jobs for construction workers, truck drivers, hardware-store clerks, hotel maids, restaurant servers and many other laborers who provide goods and services to exploration operations. In its most powerful possible effect, the Utica shale will create thousands of new manufacturing jobs in Ohio.

Along with Republic Steel, U.S. Steel has also announced new jobs and expansion in Ohio, in its case to meet demand for steel piping created by shale exploration. Vallourec & Mannesmann plans to build a plant in Youngstown, breathing new life into the heart of the rust belt. The Canton-based steel manufacturer Timken recently said that its planned expansion is motivated in part by strong sales to oil and gas companies, which make up 20% of the company's sales.

Exploration in the Utica shale could also mean cheaper utility bills for consumers. A Pennsylvania State University study published in July found that natural gas prices there dropped by 12.6% in 2010, saving consumers $633 million. The U.S. Energy Information Administration says that summer 2011 natural gas prices in the Northeast were 2%-15% lower because of increased shale production.

Shale exploration occurs safely and responsibly. Ohio has rigorous, common-sense regulations that are based upon bipartisan legislation signed by former Democratic Gov. Ted Strickland. The national Ground Water Protection Council issued a study in August that said, "Ohio has implemented more detailed notification, inspection, record keeping and reporting requirements in response to the national debate on the process of hydraulic fracturing." A January examination by the State Review of Oil & Natural Gas Environmental Regulations concluded that Ohio's regulatory system is "well-managed, professional and meeting its program objectives."

Ohio and the rest of the country face a fork in the road. Down one path lies economic stagnation, a continued slide in American manufacturing, and European-style permanent unemployment. The other path brings us away from recession and back toward America's place as the world's undeniable industrial leader. To get there, we need Washington to stop blocking proven jobs in coal, oil and gas—and allow us to maximize these resources for economic strength and national security.