Navarro: Pennsylvania’s ‘proud frackers’ help drive state’s economy

WILKES-BARRE — Peter Navarro, the Trump Administration’s Assistant to the President, Director of Trade and Manufacturing Policy, and the national Defense Production Act policy coordinator, on Wednesday said Pennsylvania’s “proud frackers” help drive the Commonwealth’s number two export — natural gas.

Navarro said Pennsylvania’s natural gas and oil industry alone drives $44.5 billion in economic output, employs approximately 26,000 workers, and supports nearly 322,600 jobs in total.

And, Navarro said, nearly half of Pennsylvania homes get their natural gas from in-state producers.

“Fracking doesn’t only mean jobs and lower energy costs,” Navarro said in a telephone interview with the Times Leader. “Royalty payments have sustained what once were struggling family farms, whose owners can now not only afford new equipment, but also can send their children and grandchildren to college.”

Navarro said today, however, both the petroleum industry and fracking are under siege with policy initiatives like the Green New Deal.

“Such opposition poses a significant threat to the Pennsylvanian economy,” Navarro said. “The loss of this industry to the opponents of fracking would be a significant blow to Pennsylvania’s communities and families dependent on this critical industry.”

Navarro’s office produced the Pennsylvania Report, which criticizes former President Barack Obama on regulations, trade negotiations and tax policies. The report also says Trump’s lifting of regulations on oil and gas have boosted fracking and the natural gas industry; and that deregulation, under the current administration, has supported the struggling coal industry.

“Coal mining has been an uphill battle, but since President Trump took office, jobs have increased,” Navarro said. “A key driver is the fracking industry. Pennsylvania has the Marcellus Shale, which sweeps like a crescent from the southwestern corner to (northeastern part of the state). There are (thousands) of fracking wells, and an astronomical number of people are employed because of it.”

Navarro said if Biden wins the election, it will mark the end of fracking in Pennsylvania.

Navarro also said Trump has re-established the viability of the Philadelphia shipyard — returning nearly 1,000 jobs there — and the York combat vehicle plant.

“The idea is that all job creation is local,” said Navarro. “President Trump has unleashed job creation through deregulation, negotiating America-first trade agreements like the USMCA, and leveraging pro-American tariffs.”

Navarro said: “President Trump is the only one Pennsylvanians can trust to ensure the energy, manufacturing, and agriculture industries continue to grow. While Joe Biden is busy making plans to crush countless Keystone State jobs, President Trump continues to create an environment for local job creation to thrive.”