Do the economic benefits outweigh the environmental risks? CREDO.fracking/Flickr The practice of hydraulic fracturing is under debate across the country in areas impacted by America’s ongoing natural gas boom. In the town of Findlay, Ohio, an increase in manufacturing in recent years has been accompanied by expanded natural gas drilling. That has Greg Auburn, professor of International Business at the University of Findlay feeling optimistic about Ohio’s future employment prospects. “The estimates (for jobs in the natural gas industry) range anywhere from 20,000 to 200,000 over the next 3 years,” he said. Along with employment projections, researchers have explored other possible costs and benefits of hydraulic fracturing, known colloquially as “fracking.” Studies conducted on the counties above the Marcellus and Barnett Shale for example — where extensive drilling has already taken place — present mixed economic results. Tim Kelsey is a Professor of Agricultural Economics at Penn State and author of “Economic Impacts of the Marcellus Shale in Pennsylvania: Employment and Income 2009.” He argues that possible benefits from increased drilling will impact different towns in different ways. “The potential benefits from hydraulic fracturing are tightly linked to the local labor force and infrastructure conditions as well as the structure and capacity of local governance.” Back in Findlay, Marathon Petroleum company headquarters sit directly on the town’s main street. According to Kelsey, the Midwest has a historical tradition entrenched in resource extraction through coal mining and oil drilling. Therefore the skilled labor and equipment necessary for hydraulic fracturing already exists in towns such as Findlay. However, the context is quite different in other communities open to shale plays across Ohio. To keep reading, click here. Link: Views Differ on Fracking’s Impact Related ArticlesObama Campaign Launches Plan to Shame Climate Sceptics in CongressRestoring the RockawaysClimate Desk Live 06/06/13: The Alarming Science Behind Climate Change’s Increasingly Wild Weather
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