Corbett's reelection bid runs on natural gas, but not the campaign bus

Governor Tom Corbett has kicked off a reelection tour that’s taking him across the commonwealth from Pittsburgh to Philadelphia over the next several days. But as Corbett touts the growth of the state’s Marcellus Shale industry under his administration’s watch, he won’t be using natural gas to get him from one stop to the next.
Campaign staffers told StateImpact Pennsylvania that the tour bus does not run on compressed natural gas, or CNG.
Press Secretary Billy Pitman said the campaign had simply decided to use the same bus company it chartered in 2008.
But at a stop on Wednesday afternoon at Linde Construction, a Luzerne County pipeline company that has benefited from Pennsylvania’s natural gas rush, Corbett’s campaign manager Mike Barley told witf’s Mary Wilson a CNG-powered bus would have been too expensive.
“I’d love to get it on CNG,” said Barley. “We’ll look into it. It’s a matter of availability to be honest with you.”

StateImpact Pennsylvania has previously reported the higher cost of CNG vehicles and a lack of infrastructure are keeping natural gas from becoming a primary transportation fuel source. Barley said there were not enough CNG fueling stations across the state to complete Corbett’s campaign tour.
“They’re not as plentiful as they will be eventually, hopefully,” he said.

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