The distance between Williamsport, Pennsylvania, and Ithaca, New York, is 123 miles.
You can drive from one town to the other in two hours.
At first glance, both towns seem almost identical…
Their populations are about 30,000 each. Each has a per capita income just above $19,000. And they both sit atop the Marcellus Shale.
But the two towns couldn’t be more different.
Williamsport’s economy is going gangbusters.
According to the Star Gazette, a New York-based newspaper:
Williamsport’s economy is larger and more stable than Ithaca’s, thanks in large part to its decision to develop shale gas. In 2010, when it started developing shale gas, Williamsport’s local economy grew 7.8% — three times the national average — compared to Ithaca’s 1%.
The same year, Williamsport ranked seventh in the nation for GDP growth, while Ithaca grew at barely two-fifths of the national rate. The Williamsport/Lycoming Chamber of Commerce estimates that up to 3,000 local jobs have been created in just two years.
This same economic potential is being realized in cities all across Pennsylvania, and it is possible both in Ithaca and many other communities in upstate New York.
The New York Department of Environmental Conservation estimates that shale gas development could create 54,000 new jobs and $2.5 billion in economic activity annually throughout the state.
Simply put, shale gas could be an economic game-changer all across New York…
The state of New York sits directly on the natural gas-rich Utica and Marcellus Shale Formations.
There’s an estimated 15.7 trillion cubic feet of natural gas trapped in the layered rocks of the Utica alone.
Extracting this natural gas would put hundreds of drilling rigs in operation. Thousands of Americans would have jobs.
And the deficit-ridden state of New York could add $385,267 per well each year to its depleted coffers.
Adding just 100 wells could hand citizens of the Empire State an easy $38.5 million a year… and considering the amount of natural gas lying under the Utica Formation, that number would likely be much higher.
But on November 30, 2010, the state shut down all shale natural gas and oil production.
Why would New York’s political leaders take such drastic action, knowing that it would cost jobs and keep the state in the red?
And more importantly, why would the voters (8.3% of whom don’t have jobs) support such a decision?
Frankly, they are worried about hydrofracturing, the drilling technology that breaks the shale rocks and releases the natural gas and oil so it can be pumped to the surface…
Environmentalists have taken to the streets with concerns that hydrofracking can lead to contaminated water wells and burdensome clean-up costs, leading to a public backlash and a drilling moratorium in the state.
Some of the protestors’ rationale has been downright pretentious…
Speaking to Keith Olbermann last November, actress Debra Winger said she opposed fracking because she thinks it’ll threaten her access to “specialty cheeses and wine.”
I’m not making this up. Here’s the video.
But lucky for the citizens of New York — and shale oil investors — a recent EPA statement has just cleared the way for the state to reap the millions of dollars in shale oil benefits without worrying about any environmental disasters:
Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa Jackson sees “only an upside to hydraulic fracturing,” according to the New York Post.
[…] The Post reports President Barack Obama also believes fracking will lead to job creation and does not mean America will have to choose between protecting our environment and bolstering the economy…
Jackson [also] said fracking is “perfectly capable of being clean” but requires technology innovators to make sure it’s done right…
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To be honest, there’s no need to wait for years of technological advances to make the EPA’s ruling pay off…
There’s a company that owns a disruptive fracking technology that uses zero water.
Their technology is being used in every major shale formation in North America. And their revenue is growing like a weed, from $23 million in 2008 to over $180 million in 2011.
We will soon release a report on this company — and its stock that’s trading for less than $10.
The original bull on America,
Brian Hicks
Check us out on YouTube!Brian is a founding member and President of Angel Publishing. He writes about general investment strategies for Wealth Daily and Energy & Capital. For more on Brian, take a look at his editor’s page.
