If Hillary wants to stop fracking somebody should tell the voters in Ohio

I realize that there are plenty of provocative social justice issues or plans to stop ISIS that everyone wants to see covered as Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump debate each other in the final stretch of the campaign, but if you really want to reach the voters in the swing states you need to focus on what really matters to them at home. In the case of hotly contested Ohio, here’s a bit of information which should prove useful. Let’s start by revisiting a promise which Secretary Clinton made to the voters back in March when Bernie Sanders was still shoving her far to the left. (Fortune)

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The front-runner for the Democratic party nomination used a debate in Flint, Michigan on Sunday night to oppose fracking anywhere local communities were against it, wherever it polluted air or water, and whenever companies refused to disclose what chemicals they use in the process.

“By the time we get through all of my conditions, I do not think there will be many places in America where fracking will continue to take place,” she said.

Oh really?Well now that we’re closer to the election, here’s something which the voters of Ohio might find of interest. Fracking for natural gas in the Utica Shale formation has hit record levels, expanding by many orders of magnitude above what it was just a few years ago. (Ohio.com)

Energy companies tapping the Utica Shale are increasingly going for natural gas, the federal government reports today. The Energy Information Administration said:

“Production of oil and natural gas in the Appalachian Basin’s Utica play—which includes both the Utica and Point Pleasant formations—has increased significantly since 2012.

“Monthly natural gas production from Utica wells increased from 0.1 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) in December 2012 to more than 3.5 Bcf/d in June 2016. Oil production increased from 4,400 barrels per day (b/d) to nearly 76,000 b/d over the same period.”

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Sure, that sounds good for the industry, but what does it mean for jobs in Ohio? Not only is it significant, but removing this work would shoot a serious hole in the state’s employment levels. (Energy Indepth)

The State of Ohio Department of Jobs and Family Services (ODJFS) recently issued its Quarterly Economic Trends for Ohio Oil and Gas Industries report, which included employment statistics from 2011 Q1 to 2015 Q2. According to the state employment and wages records, shale development accounts for a 96 percent increase in direct shale-related jobs in Ohio.

In fact, as this chart shows, since 2011, each year shale pumped (on average) 183, 936 jobs into the Buckeye State.

ohioshale

That’s nearly 200,00 families in just the state of Ohio with jobs directly involved in natural gas production, with much of it from fracking, in the shale formations. The ancillary market adds tens of thousands of additional jobs on top of that. And we’re not talking about the McJobs that Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton seem to credit during the current “recovery.” These shale jobs pay an average of $75,071 per year. Compare that with the average wage for all Ohio industries, which is $46, 393. Yep. Working in the fracking industry is paying Ohioans 38% more than the state average.

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I think it’s our collective duty to let Ohio’s voters know what they have in store under a Hillary Clinton presidency.

“By the time we get through all of my conditions, I do not think there will be many places in America where fracking will continue to take place,” she said.

From your lips to Ohio’s ears, Madam.

frackingsite

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