Commonwealth Foundation for Public Policy Alternatives has a solution for rural population loss: Drill, baby, drill!!

 

Sources:  Wikipedia, U.S. Census Bureau 

Trib-Live, 7/8/2024

Guy's wet dream for rural Pa

But we can fix rural Pennsylvania’s population decline — and even spark growth — with sensible policies. 

For example, Pennsylvania is sitting on enough natural gas — almost entirely in rural counties — to out-power Saudi Arabia for two centuries. The state should institute regulations, legislation and tax policies that encourage this energy source’s growth and development. Instead, political rhetoric and policies have tried to slow down, if not, ban it.

If embraced, the natural gas sector could lead to countless high-paying, even six-figure, jobs in rural Pennsylvania. Those jobs would involve locating the gas, drilling for wells, piping the resource, and then transporting it for fuel. Moreover, these communities, despite their location, don’t have the pipeline infrastructure to use local gas for homes, businesses, hospitals and schools. Investing in this resource, though, would lead to lower personal, business, educational, and health care costs. 

In addition, the natural gas sector would create thousands of ancillary businesses and jobs, including those involving machinery, tools, servicing, equipment and repairs. Those workers need to eat, buy clothes, get medicine, buy cars — live life.  [emphasis added}

Related reading:

Oil history in Warren County.  

Related posts:

July 2024

Pineville, West Virginia.  (7/1)

June 2024

Rural Pennsylvania population loss:  New Castle/Lawrence County.  (6/27)

Rural Pennsylvania population loss:  Oil City/Venango County.  (6/27)

Rural Pennsylvania population loss:  Bradford/McKean County.  (6/27)

Tragedy of Flint, Michigan.  (6/27/2024

Elkport, Iowa:  Will the last person left please turn out the lights?  (6/26)

Dear Jefferson Wisconsin skeptics, Your city's population has doubled since 1950, but it peaked in 2010.  (6/20/2024)

Dear Elk Grove Village officials, It's called 'plateauing'.  Your city's population has been treading water since 1980.   Best, Retiring Guy.  (6/18)

Dear Mount Prospect officials, It's called 'plateauing'.  Your city's population has been treading water since 1980.   Best, Retiring Guy.  (6/18)

Dear Arlington Heights officials, It's called 'plateauing'.  Your city's population has been treading water since 1990.   Best, Retiring Guy.  (6/17)

Dear Palatine officials, It's called 'plateauing'.  Your city's population has been trading water since 2000.   Best, Retiring Guy.  (6/17)

Why are some counties experiencing population increases?  They are now in the orbit of a metro area.  (Dallas County/Des Moines Iowa edition),  (6/14)

Sharon Pennsylvania still figuring out how to stem its population loss.  (6/12)

May 2024

Springfield/Greene County is Missouri's fastest growing metro area.  (5/30)

U.S. Census Bureau 2023 population estimates for West Virginias 10 most populous cities.  (5/27)

U.S. Census Bureau 2023 population estimates for Ohio's 10 most populous cities.  (5/26)

U.S. Census Bureau 2023 population estimates for New York's 10 most populous cities.  (5/26)

U.S. Census Bureau 2023 population estimates for Wisconsin 10 most populous cities.  (5/24)

Drug overdoses accelerate Baltimore's population loss.  (5/23)

U.S. Census Bureau 2023 population estimates for Wisconsin's 10 most populous counties.  (5/20)

Waukee is Des Moines' fastest-growing suburb.  (5/17)

After decades of decline, Detroit's population finally turns a corner.  (5/17)

Jacksonville, Illinois, desperately tries to reverse its decades-long population decline.  (5/17)

Residents in Warren County Pennsylvania continue to fight over organization of school district. (5/8)

April 2024

BIG PICTURE:  Rural population loss in Illinois is rampant.  (4/2)

BIG PICTURE:   Rural Kansas counties continue to lose population.  (4/2)

BIG PICTURE:  Alabama and the long decline of rural population.  (4/2)

Population loss:  Northern and western rural counties lead the way in Pennsylvania.  (4/2)

BIG PICTURE:  Then there's rural Valley County, Montana, where the population has dropped 56% since its 1960 peak of 17,080.  (4/2)

March 2024

Residents of fastest growing county in Arkansas aren't big fans of Donald Trump.  (3/23)

Population loss along U.S. highway 6 in Pennsylvania.  (3/19)

14 of Wisconsin's 72 counties have experienced population gain of at least 1% since 2020.  (3/18)

One-third of Wisconsin's 72 counties have lost population since 2020.  (3/18)