Drilling Foes Take Their Case to the Ballot Box

Susan Phillips

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Susan Phillips tells stories about the consequences of political decisions on people's every day lives. She has worked as a reporter for WHYY since 2004. Susan's coverage of the 2008 Presidential election resulted in a story on the front page of the New York Times. In 2010 she traveled to Haiti to cover the earthquake. That same year she produced an award-winning series on Pennsylvania's natural gas rush called "The Shale Game." She received a 2013 Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Journalism Award for her work covering natural gas drilling in Pennsylvania. She has also won several Edward R. Murrow awards for her work with StateImpact. In 2013/14 she spent a year at MIT as a Knight Science Journalism Fellow. She has also been a Metcalf Fellow, an MBL Logan Science Journalism Fellow and reported from Marrakech on the 2016 climate talks as an International Reporting Project Fellow. A graduate of Columbia School of Journalism, she earned her Bachelor's degree in International Relations from George Washington University.

September 13, 2011 | 12:19 PM

More towns across Pennsylvania are using the power of the ballot box to regulate or all out ban drilling for natural gas. The Wall Street Journal reported this week about Peters Township in Washington County, where voters could decide on whether to prohibit drilling in the town. A similar referendum is on the November ballot in State College. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports today that the Peters Township Council, which opposes an outright ban, is mounting a legal challenge to the ballot initiative. Peters Township Council had passed regulations limiting drilling to 40-acre parcels. But some residents feel the rule does not go far enough. In nearby South Fayette Township, Range Resources has challenged local drilling regulations in court.