While America's annual average unemployment rate fell by 0.8 percentage points in 2012 compared to 2011, and while this key jobs statistic improved in 46 states during 2012, New York and Pennsylvania did not share in improving times. Instead, New York and Pennsylvania were among just 4 states, where the unemployment rate did not improve over the course of 2012. What explains their bad performance?
http://www.bls.gov/news.release/srgune.t01.htm.
In Pennsylvania, shale gas drilling has been generating wealth for landowners and about 100,000 direct and indirect jobs since 2007. By contrast, New York has a moratorium on shale gas drilling for now nearly 5 years.
The experience of Pennsylvania and New York that have both done poorly over the last two years, one with shale gas drilling and one without, even as the nation's unemployment rate declined significantly, reminds that gas drilling alone is not going to make or break their economies. In truth, no single industry by itself is, not even health care which dwarfs gas drilling.
Both New York and Pennsylvania have large populations that need many millions of jobs to be at full employment and that need strong performance from manufacturing, agriculture, tourism, transportation, education, and health care. In fact, Pennsylvania needs 6.5 million jobs. To reach that number, the 100,000 direct and indirect jobs from gas drilling helps and are vital to everyone of the people with one of those jobs.
But gas drilling alone has not brought prosperity to all Pennsylvanians and cannot. That is a lesson that Governor Corbett still does not understand. Indeed, he has put all his economic development eggs in the gas basket, while destroying jobs, by hostility or neglect, in education, transportation, health care, wind, solar, energy efficiency, and other industries. The end result of those mistakes is Pennsylvania, despite the gas boom and a falling national unemployment rate, is among the 4 worst performing economies in the nation.
Tuesday, March 5, 2013
Volt Trumps Corvettes & Porsche 911 In Consumer Satisfaction
The Volt is loved by its owners. In 2011 and 2012, 93% and 92% said they would buy the car again.
http://www.csmonitor.com/Business/In-Gear/2012/1129/Chevy-Volt-tops-customer-satisfaction-survey-again. That's according to Consumer Reports who found the Volt leads its customer satisfaction ratings.
In fact, in the love your car derby, the Volt edged out the Corvette and Porsche 911.
http://www.bostonglobe.com/business/2013/02/10/chevy-volt-tops-consumer-satisfaction-survey/FgQ9fTlhz9dWaOT6XKUfgP/story.html. That is serious car love.
That love produced 60% higher Volt sales in February 2013 than in February 2012.
http://www.plugincars.com/chevy-volt-reboound-february-2013-nissan-leaf-sales-126562.html.
http://www.csmonitor.com/Business/In-Gear/2012/1129/Chevy-Volt-tops-customer-satisfaction-survey-again. That's according to Consumer Reports who found the Volt leads its customer satisfaction ratings.
In fact, in the love your car derby, the Volt edged out the Corvette and Porsche 911.
http://www.bostonglobe.com/business/2013/02/10/chevy-volt-tops-consumer-satisfaction-survey/FgQ9fTlhz9dWaOT6XKUfgP/story.html. That is serious car love.
That love produced 60% higher Volt sales in February 2013 than in February 2012.
http://www.plugincars.com/chevy-volt-reboound-february-2013-nissan-leaf-sales-126562.html.
High gasoline prices in February also makes the Volt easy to love. In her Volt, my sister has been averaging over 300 miles traveled per gallon of gasoline consumed. That's a powerful way to cut the fuel bill.
Monday, March 4, 2013
PA's Geisinger Health Study Of Fracking Is Nation's Most Important: Will Decide NY & Shape Policy Around Country
Announced in 2012 and recently the recipient of a $1 million grant, The Geisinger Health System's study of fracking has become quickly THE most important health fracking study in the country. Indeed, even before it reports any findings, the Geisinger study is already shaping policy in New York, where Governor Cuomo reportedly backed off a plan to authorize 40 test wells, in order to wait for the first results from the Geisinger study. http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/ap-ny-fracking-held-cuomo-rfk-jr-talk-18636918.
Geisinger Health Systems (http://www.geisinger.org/) provides excellent medical care to hundreds of thousands of Pennsylvanians in central Pennsylvania, including in areas where drilling is concentrated. It has patient records for large population groups that live near gas wells or distant from them. Geisinger also conducts medical research and is rigorously scientific.
Geisinger received a $1 million grant from a foundation that is not a participant in the shale gas wars.
http://www.timesunion.com/news/article/1-million-grant-for-study-of-fracking-4288597.php. Geisinger's study will be the most thorough, rigorous, scientific examination of any possible impacts from the gas drilling process. It will be the best health study of gas drilling and actual patients in the nation.
As such, the Geisinger Health System's fracking health study will substantially impact gas drilling regulatory policy. Indeed, as events in New York show, Geisinger's health study is already doing so!
Geisinger Health Systems (http://www.geisinger.org/) provides excellent medical care to hundreds of thousands of Pennsylvanians in central Pennsylvania, including in areas where drilling is concentrated. It has patient records for large population groups that live near gas wells or distant from them. Geisinger also conducts medical research and is rigorously scientific.
Geisinger received a $1 million grant from a foundation that is not a participant in the shale gas wars.
http://www.timesunion.com/news/article/1-million-grant-for-study-of-fracking-4288597.php. Geisinger's study will be the most thorough, rigorous, scientific examination of any possible impacts from the gas drilling process. It will be the best health study of gas drilling and actual patients in the nation.
As such, the Geisinger Health System's fracking health study will substantially impact gas drilling regulatory policy. Indeed, as events in New York show, Geisinger's health study is already doing so!
It's No Ponzi Scheme: Barnett Shale Field Will Produce Nearly 1 Trillion Cubic Feet In 2030
A new study that looks at the individual production of 16,000 shale gas wells drilled through mid-2011 in the Barnett shale gas field constitutes a hail of nails in the coffin of the claim that shale gas is a Ponzi scheme. The study finds that the Barnett, the grandfather of shale gas fields, will still be producing in 2030 900 billion cubic feet or about 4% of 2012's record US production. That is still lots of gas seventeen years from now.
http://blogs.star-telegram.com/barnett_shale/2013/02/new-barnett-shale-study-sees-production-through-2030.html.
Indeed, the Bureau of Economic Geology (BEG) at the University of Texas finds that the Barnett will produce another 44 trillion cubic feet, as it slowly declines from its peak production of 2 trillion cubic feet in 2011. And the BEG analysis assumes a modest gas price of just $4 to get that amount of production.
http://www.utexas.edu/news/2013/02/28/new-rigorous-assessment-of-shale-gas-reserves-forecasts-reliable-supply-from-barnett-shale-through-2030/. Presumably, had the study assumed an average price of $6, the projected production levels would have been even higher.
BEG also states that it is doing a similar well-by-well study of the Marcellus where BEG will likely confirm that the Marcellus has decades, even generations, of large production volumes ahead, even if one assumes a low long-term average price of $4.
Hopefully, the combination of the enormous actual shale production numbers that have now been facts for 10 or more years and increasingly authoritative reserve studies, like BEG's, will end the Ponzi scheme narrative. That narrative has been used to mislead good people. Like it or not, there are massive amounts of shale gas that can be produced even at low, long-term average prices of $4 to $6 per thousand cubic feet.
http://blogs.star-telegram.com/barnett_shale/2013/02/new-barnett-shale-study-sees-production-through-2030.html.
Indeed, the Bureau of Economic Geology (BEG) at the University of Texas finds that the Barnett will produce another 44 trillion cubic feet, as it slowly declines from its peak production of 2 trillion cubic feet in 2011. And the BEG analysis assumes a modest gas price of just $4 to get that amount of production.
http://www.utexas.edu/news/2013/02/28/new-rigorous-assessment-of-shale-gas-reserves-forecasts-reliable-supply-from-barnett-shale-through-2030/. Presumably, had the study assumed an average price of $6, the projected production levels would have been even higher.
BEG also states that it is doing a similar well-by-well study of the Marcellus where BEG will likely confirm that the Marcellus has decades, even generations, of large production volumes ahead, even if one assumes a low long-term average price of $4.
Hopefully, the combination of the enormous actual shale production numbers that have now been facts for 10 or more years and increasingly authoritative reserve studies, like BEG's, will end the Ponzi scheme narrative. That narrative has been used to mislead good people. Like it or not, there are massive amounts of shale gas that can be produced even at low, long-term average prices of $4 to $6 per thousand cubic feet.
Friday, March 1, 2013
Stunning Fact: Average Annual Unemployment Rate Declines In 46 States But NOT In Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania's terrible economic performance since 2011 is becoming stark and standing out. Although 46 states had a lower average annual unemployment rate in 2012 than in 2011, Pennsylvania is not one of them. http://www.bls.gov/news.release/srgune.nr0.htm.
Instead Pennsylvania is one of the 4 struggling, underperforming states whose unemployment rate did not decline or rose in 2012. http://www.bls.gov/news.release/srgune.t01.htm. While 46 states saw their unemployment rates decline in 2012 compared to 2011, Pennsylvania's rate did not improve at all, remaining at 7.9% in 2012 and 2011. Those are the ugly facts for Pennsylvanians.
The average annual unemployment rate nationally in 2012 was 0.8% lower than in 2011, a significant year-to-year improvement.
Disastrous state budget, education, energy, health care, transportation, and economic development policies pursued in Pennsylvania by the Corbett Administration are overwhelming the positive impacts of both the national economic improvement that pushes unemployment rates down in 46 states and Pennsylvania's gas boom that has created about 100,000 jobs directly and indirectly. Given that terrible economic performance, Governor Corbett has earned his low, low approval ratings.
Instead Pennsylvania is one of the 4 struggling, underperforming states whose unemployment rate did not decline or rose in 2012. http://www.bls.gov/news.release/srgune.t01.htm. While 46 states saw their unemployment rates decline in 2012 compared to 2011, Pennsylvania's rate did not improve at all, remaining at 7.9% in 2012 and 2011. Those are the ugly facts for Pennsylvanians.
The average annual unemployment rate nationally in 2012 was 0.8% lower than in 2011, a significant year-to-year improvement.
Disastrous state budget, education, energy, health care, transportation, and economic development policies pursued in Pennsylvania by the Corbett Administration are overwhelming the positive impacts of both the national economic improvement that pushes unemployment rates down in 46 states and Pennsylvania's gas boom that has created about 100,000 jobs directly and indirectly. Given that terrible economic performance, Governor Corbett has earned his low, low approval ratings.
Breakthrough Institute Finds Gas Primarily Caused USA's Sharp Carbon Drop
Defeat is an orphan, but victory has many parents. Uncle Sam's remarkable success in cutting carbon emissions since they peaked in 2007 is an environmental victory, but it has triggered a debate about the contribution of the gas boom to the fact of the big US carbon drop.
The Breakthrough Institute estimates that both increased non-hydro renewables and gas contributed significantly to the substantial reduction of US carbon emissions from 2007 to 2012. It finds that more gas generation, however, cut carbon emissions by 3 to 10 times more than non-hydro renewables. http://thebreakthrough.org/index.php/debunking-rhodium/. Breakthrough's paper links to a blog post that I also published on this topic.
From 2007-2012, coal's generation market share plunged 9 percentage points from about 48% to 37%, as both gas and non-hydro renewables increased their market share but by different amounts. Coal generation's loss was the gain of gas and non-hydro renewables. Non-hydro renewables boosted their generation market share by about 2 percentage points and gas climbed about 8 percentage points.
Cheap gas also led to displacement of some oil in power generation, home heating, and transportation. Biofuels, mainly corn ethanol, too also gained market share from oil. The displacement of oil by gas and biofuels also contributed to the decline in carbon emissions.
The Breakthrough Institute's analysis of the comparative contributions made by both gas and renewables to the big drop in carbon emissions is worth reading. Yet, the most important point is that US carbon emissions declined substantially from 2007 to 2012, thanks to gas and non-hydro renewables gaining market share, and thanks to growing energy efficiency and conservation.
The Breakthrough Institute estimates that both increased non-hydro renewables and gas contributed significantly to the substantial reduction of US carbon emissions from 2007 to 2012. It finds that more gas generation, however, cut carbon emissions by 3 to 10 times more than non-hydro renewables. http://thebreakthrough.org/index.php/debunking-rhodium/. Breakthrough's paper links to a blog post that I also published on this topic.
From 2007-2012, coal's generation market share plunged 9 percentage points from about 48% to 37%, as both gas and non-hydro renewables increased their market share but by different amounts. Coal generation's loss was the gain of gas and non-hydro renewables. Non-hydro renewables boosted their generation market share by about 2 percentage points and gas climbed about 8 percentage points.
Cheap gas also led to displacement of some oil in power generation, home heating, and transportation. Biofuels, mainly corn ethanol, too also gained market share from oil. The displacement of oil by gas and biofuels also contributed to the decline in carbon emissions.
The Breakthrough Institute's analysis of the comparative contributions made by both gas and renewables to the big drop in carbon emissions is worth reading. Yet, the most important point is that US carbon emissions declined substantially from 2007 to 2012, thanks to gas and non-hydro renewables gaining market share, and thanks to growing energy efficiency and conservation.
A Changed Climate Closes A Texas Factory, Doubles Flood Maps In NY & Costs $3.9 Billion In NJ
The already changed climate is making itself felt. In New Jersey and New York, the seas that have risen about 11 inches inundated areas previous thought to be well outside flood areas. Insurance costs are rising. Homes once outside flood zones are now in them, as the new Federal Emergency Management Agency flood maps of New York City doubled the number of residential and commercial buildings in flood areas, and the latest maps don't even include all areas flooded by Sandy.
In Texas, record heat and drought (climate models years ago predicted increased drought in Texas) are taking a toll. For example, the New York Times reports that a beef processing plant will close, because the drought makes it impossible to keep an adequate regional cattle herd.
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/28/us/drought-fells-a-texas-towns-biggest-employer.html?_r=0.
The plant had operated for "generations," and its closing will kill a $55 million annual payroll and 2,300 jobs.
In New Jersey, an electric utility is investing $3.9 billion to harden the grid from extreme storms and rising seas, concluding that stronger storms are the new normal. Paying $3.9 billion for a harden grid is expensive but a better option than sitting in the dark and cold for days, weeks, and months.
From Texas to New Jersey, the already changed climate is making itself felt.
In Texas, record heat and drought (climate models years ago predicted increased drought in Texas) are taking a toll. For example, the New York Times reports that a beef processing plant will close, because the drought makes it impossible to keep an adequate regional cattle herd.
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/28/us/drought-fells-a-texas-towns-biggest-employer.html?_r=0.
The plant had operated for "generations," and its closing will kill a $55 million annual payroll and 2,300 jobs.
In New Jersey, an electric utility is investing $3.9 billion to harden the grid from extreme storms and rising seas, concluding that stronger storms are the new normal. Paying $3.9 billion for a harden grid is expensive but a better option than sitting in the dark and cold for days, weeks, and months.
From Texas to New Jersey, the already changed climate is making itself felt.
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