EDITORIAL: Drill, baby, drill

The New York Times is hardly a defender of the oil and gas industries. The newspaper is more likely to rip fossil fuels, sound the climate change alarm and sing the praises of heavily subsidized — and hugely expensive — green energy technologies. So the editors of the Gray Lady had to swallow hard this week when they published a bit of undeniable reality: fracking is saving the economy.

As reported Monday by the Times’ Nelson D. Schwartz, the Rust Belt is enjoying an economic revival thanks to a surge in oil and natural gas production: “Here in Ohio, in an arc stretching south from Youngstown past Canton and into the rural parts of the state where much of the natural gas is being drawn from shale deep underground, entire sectors like manufacturing, hotels, real estate and even law are being reshaped.”

The rebound led French company Vallourec to build a 1 million square foot plant in Youngstown to produce steel pipes for the energy industry, Mr. Schwartz noted — the first mill of its kind to open there in 50 years. And Ohio’s job numbers have exploded, with unemployment at 5.7 percent in July.

Ohio and other states are following the lead of North Dakota, where the fracking boom literally remade the state in just a few years. Nevada officials are smartly getting on board, recognizing that fracking could diversify and rapidly grow the Silver State’s economy. The Associated Press reported Aug. 28 that the state’s Commission on Mineral Resources unanimously approved regulations guiding oil and gas exploration companies’ use of hydraulic fracturing. The move was precipitated by legislation that required the adoption of fracking regulations by January 2015.

Many of the usual environmental interests have lined up in opposition to the regulations, including the Progressive Leadership Alliance of Nevada and Frack Free Nevada. But their positions are rooted in anti-development dogma. Fracking is being done safely across the country. The green lobby’s preferred sources of energy — such as wind and solar — not only can’t produce enough power to meet national demand, but come at a cost most customers cannot afford.

Nevada can be a part of this economic boom if the state continues moving forward, especially if companies can gain access to the gas and oil reserves underneath the vast swaths of federal land in this state. Unlike green energy, which requires almost no workforce once generation facilities are built, oil and gas production demands thousands of highly paid, permanent positions to maintain production.

If Nevada is serious about diversifying the state’s economy and luring good-paying jobs, it will give the oil and gas industries a welcome warmer than Tesla’s.