Stand up against gas

There’s a plainspoken opinion piece in yesterday’s Charleston Gazette that gets right to the heart of the Marcellus shale drilling issue. Here’s the beginning:

“Wall Street barons used the same line on past generations: Give us your timber and coal; we will bring untold wealth to West Virginia. The facts speak for themselves. The wealth went to Wall Street and the timber and coal left West Virginia.

A rosy picture for Marcellus Shale gas drilling painted by a carefully crafted West Virginia University study omitted any mention of environmental impacts. Overall statistics do indeed show job growth in the gas industry, but what about the real facts of job growth in West Virginia?

Remember remarks made by the Chesapeake Energy CEO when asked why Chesapeake doesn't employ more state residents? He said we are illiterate, uneducated and can't pass drug tests. I guess that is why Chesapeake closed its office in southern West Virginia and laid off over 200 employees.

It's no secret that Marcellus jobs are being filled by out-of-state workers. Do you really think corporations are concerned about effects this type of drilling could have on our state? When the job is done, they are gone and whatever is left behind is not their problem. Sounds all too familiar, doesn't it?”

http://wvgazette.com/Opinion/OpEdCommentaries/201103210827