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Public deserved to be heard on park drilling deal; Editorial; Beaver County Times; September 28, 2014.
Below is a critique of an editorial excerpt.
“South Heights Councilman Bob Schmetzer spoke at Thursday’s meeting against the deal, saying the commissioners should set up public meetings in the evenings so the general public would have an opportunity to speak on the issue of gas drilling in county parks.
“Peter Deutsch, a retired professor of physics from Penn State-Beaver, pointed out that Shell Chemical has been holding public meetings to discuss the proposed ethane cracker plant in Potter Township, even though the company has yet to make a final commitment to the project.
“Their points are well taken.”
[RWC] There are a couple of things I could take issue with, but overall I don’t have a big problem with the editorial. That said, I do have a few observations.
First, the BCT didn’t mention its smoke-in-the-wind position regarding Marcellus natural gas (MNG). In general, BCT editorials tend to oppose MNG production, unless it results in tax revenue to increase government spending.
Second, the editorial failed to mention Messrs. Deutsch (secretary) and Schmetzer (VP) are officers of the communist Beaver County Reds (aka, Beaver County Blue, aka CommunistProgressive Democrats of America - PA 12th Congressional District Chapter). BCR and other groups to which these men belong adamantly oppose all “non-green” forms of energy, including MNG. Mr. Schmetzer, also the Democrat party chair for South Heights, in particular is a flamethrower on this topic. Be sure to check Mr. Schmetzer’s Facebook page. In reality, I doubt Mr. Schmetzer’s alleged comment had anything to do with “the general public [having] an opportunity to speak on the issue of gas drilling in county parks.” I’m sure the BCT knows this.
Third, though the editorial mentions the “nearly $3.1 million bonus and a 17 percent royalty on gas extracted from Brush Creek and Old Economy parks. And those royalties could amount to $15 million to $30 million over the life of the wells,” it doesn’t mention how the County plans to use that revenue. Will the commissioners use MNG revenue to reduce taxes and/or increase spending?
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