Proposed gas drilling ban in city wins friends, foes such as Tom Ridge
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Former Pennnsylvania Governor Tom Ridge speaks at the Pittsburgh Business Times Energy Conference about Marcellus Shale drilling.
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Diametrically opposed viewpoints on the Marcellus Shale boom competed for attention Tuesday with Pittsburgh City Councilman Doug Shields seeking a citywide ban on natural gas drilling and former Gov. Tom Ridge hailing the industry's "transformative opportunity" for Pennsylvania.
Despite questions about the legality of a ban, Mr. Shields unveiled a bill that would prohibit gas extraction anywhere in the city, even if drilling companies have already acquired leases from property owners. Speaking at a morning news conference at the City-County Building, Mr. Shields said drilling hearkened a return to Pittsburgh's polluted industrial past.
"You want that back?" he said.
Hours later, in his new role as strategic adviser to an industry group, Mr. Ridge told an energy conference at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center that Marcellus Shale was one of the state's great natural gifts.
"I think this is potentially a transformative opportunity for our state," he said, still dressed in the jeans and checkered shirt he wore while inspecting drilling operations in Washington County earlier in the day. While in the field, he said, he encountered dozens of local residents put to work by the industry.
Mr. Ridge cited a need to address environmental challenges and fears about the industry, even though he said some of the latter amounted to "mythology." He said hard lessons learned from the coal and timbering industries, in Pennsylvania and other states, should guide the industry's stewardship of land and waterways.
"We're only getting one chance to get it right," he said.
Last month, Mr. Ridge and his two consulting firms received a one-year, $900,000 contract to serve as strategic advisers to the Marcellus Shale Coalition, a Cecil-based trade group. However, the former two-term governor said he was approaching the job with the interests of his former constituents in mind.
Mr. Ridge delivered a five-minute address to the Energy Inc. conference, sponsored by the Pittsburgh Business Times.
First Published August 18, 2010 12:00 am
