Mr. Rendell said concerns over the certification of an environmentally stable forest justified the moratorium, particularly in light of a report from the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR) which he cited. The report, conducted over the course of seven months, suggests any additional leases for Marcellus shale gas drilling could endanger the “quality and character of these tracts.”

Courtesy of the Marcellus Shale Coalition

The DCNR report calculates that Pennsylvania managing its forests in a sustainable manner is worth about $6 billion to the forest products industry.

“Drilling companies’ rush to grab private lands across the state has left few areas untouched by this widespread industrial activity,” said Mr. Rendell. “We need to protect our un-leased public lands from this rush because they are the most significant tracts of undisturbed forest remaining in the state. The House led the way to protect these lands, but the Senate failed to do so. That’s why it’s clear we need this executive order.”

The moratorium will not affect any drilling on state lands already leased, which includes approximately 700,000 of Pennsylvanian's 2.2 million acres of forest land.

Mr. Corbett and Mr. Onorato’s campaigns did not return requests for comment on the moratorium. Mr. Onorato has previously said opposed the House severance tax and Mr. Corbett has said he would not sign any severance tax on Marcellus shale.

Among the reasons the governor cited for taking such action included blaming the House and Senate Republicans for failing to compromise on a severance tax after the House passed H.B. 2235, which would have included a moratorium on leasing further state lands.

During a press call, Mr. Rendell cited three actions he has taken to protect against further leasing of the state forest once he is no longer in office.

He signed the executive order prohibiting any new leases to drilling companies.

He contacted both gubernatorial candidates – Democrat Dan Onorato and Republican Tom Corbett – to ask for their support, though neither candidate for governor had contacted Mr. Rendell to affirm this. 

Asked whether he seriously thought Mr. Corbett would uphold the ban, Mr. Rendell said “we’ll find out.”

“It’s state forest land, it’s different,” said the governor. “It doesn’t restrict the companies from buying up private land and I think Corbett has a responsibility of being a steward of that state forest land.”

And he called for the state Senate to return Nov. 8 to address the severance tax.

The state Senate Republican leadership, which controls the Senate, has said they will not return for a lame-duck session after the elections.

“I realize the Senate Republicans have said they won’t meet in lame duck session,” said Mr. Rendell. “They think it’s wrong to do business during a lame duck session. There are some exigent circumstances that should create exceptions to that, and this is one on them, particularly if Tom Corbett is elected. We could have eight years of drilling with no tax.”

State Sen. Joe Scarnati (R – Warren), said Tuesday he is looking into Mr. Rendell’s authority to file the executive order for a moratorium on releasing further state land and said he may file suit against the moratorium.

The governor defended his authority and said while Mr. Scarnati could file suit, that does not mean he will win in court.

Mr. Rendell went on to claim that once eight years have gone by, most of the Marcellus shale gas would have been extracted, which the Marcellus Shale Coalition (MSC), an industry group, challenged. 

“Marcellus production and activity will be occurring for the next 40 to 50 years in PA,” said Travis Windle, spokesperson for the MSC.

The state DCNR estimates there are over 295 trillion cubic feet of Marcellus shale in the Appalachian basin. In 2008, the United States consumed 23 trillion cubic feet of natural gas.

“While MSC members are responsibly developing natural gas resources across the Commonwealth, we are not advocating for additional state leasing,” said Kathryn Klaber, president of the Marcellus Shale Coalition, an industry group. “However, we strongly reject any moratorium. By safely developing these job-creating resources, the Commonwealth has already realized significant revenues and those impacts will only increase as natural gas royalties are generated.”

Story from the PA Independent Website.  www.paindependent.com

Darwyyn Deyo is a reporter for PA Independent. She can be reached at Darwyyn@PAIndependent.com