U.S. Chamber of Commerce Launches Pro-Marcellus Campaign

Scott Detrow

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Scott Detrow is a congressional correspondent for NPR. He also co-hosts the NPR Politics Podcast.

Detrow joined NPR in 2015 to cover the presidential election. He focused on the Republican side of the 2016 race, spending time on the campaign trail with Donald Trump, and also reported on the election's technology and data angles.

Detrow worked as a statehouse reporter for member stations WITF in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and KQED in San Francisco, California. He has also covered energy policy for NPR's StateImpact project, where his reports on Pennsylvania's hydraulic fracturing boom won a DuPont-Columbia and national Edward R. Murrow Award in 2013.

July 19, 2012 | 1:29 PM

Scott Detrow / StateImpact Pennsylvania

A Bradford County drilling rig

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is launching a new promotional campaign aimed at promoting Pennsylvania’s natural gas drilling boom, as the AP reports:

Karen Harbert, head of the institute, says Pennsylvania’s program is part of a national effort to build support for the economic and energy benefits of natural gas that’s being extracted from shale formations. Similar efforts are under way in Ohio and West Virginia.
Gene Barr, president of the Pennsylvania chamber, says gas produced in Pennsylvania from the Marcellus Shale formation is already benefiting residents across the state. He says support for the industry’s continued development is critical because it provides good jobs, attracts manufacturing and provides tax revenue to pay for public programs.

What, exactly, will this campaign entail? The Chamber’s website describes it this way:

Nationally, the Shale Works for US campaign will build a network of communities, businesses and policymakers throughout the states and at the federal level to support the economic, job creation and energy security benefits generated by shale energy.

The Shale Works for US campaign will include extensive grassroots recruitment, advertising, and educational outreach to businesses and community groups. Initially, similar efforts are underway in Ohio and West Virginia with plans to expand across the country.