Over the last couple of days, PA DEP has approved permits for two major pipelines in Pennsylvania, the Mariner East 2 and PennEast.  Governor Wolf is going to be fighting a tough re-election contest and union votes are critical to his reelection especially in Philadelphia.

These pipelines has been delayed by FERC and in fact PennEast is still waiting for final FERC approval which will not come until a new FERC commissioner is named probably in April or May sometime

Mariner East 2 is ready to go.  Both of these pipelines will generate thousands of jobs in building the pipelines and a considerable number of these jobs will good paying union jobs.  More importantly, the Mariner East 2 pipeline will continually generate union jobs at Marcus Hook in Philadelphia.

The Marcus Hook is becoming a primary East Coast facility for shipping liquid natural gas (LNG) to Europe.  Along with shipping, Marcus Hook can also become a major location for a cracker plant or two which again would generate thousands of union jobs.

While Governor Wolf is not outright supporter of the oi and gas industry in Pennsylvania, I applaud him for pushing the approvals of these pipelines.  NatGas from these pipelines will contribute to a much cleaner source of energy and will be a good job creator for years to come.