Advertising campaign 'focused on advocacy and education'
By Dan Gearino
A big player has arrived in Ohio to promote the benefits of shale energy.
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce said today that it is launching a media campaign in Ohio to show how oil and gas drilling can transform the economy, and act as a counterpoint to environmental advocates who have raised concerns about the drilling process.
“Our campaign is focused on advocacy and education,” said Christopher Guith, vice president for policy at the chamber’s Institute for 21st Century Energy.
He spoke at a Downtown news conference announcing the initiative. He declined to give specifics about how much money the national business organization is spending, only that it would be a “multimillion-dollar” effort.
The chamber plans to advertise on television, radio and print, and hold public events across the state.
Guith said the campaign will provide a pro-business perspective that goes beyond the advocacy by the oil and gas industry, and will show how shale energy can help Ohio manufacturing and other industries.
“It’s a tremendous, tremendous opportunity for our young people and young adults,” said Bill Bussey, superintendent of the Mid-East Career and Technology Centers, a job-training agency based in Zanesville. He was one of several business and community leaders who also spoke at the event today.
He sees benefits that will cut across the economy as businesses grow to serve the influx of professionals working in oil and gas.
“Right now, I don’t think you can get a hotel room in Cambridge, Ohio,” he said.
Supporters of oil and gas drilling hope to rebut environmental concerns about hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, the process of extracting oil and gas from shale.
In Ohio, one of the people raising those issues has been Jack Shaner, deputy director of the Ohio Environmental Council. He points to a poll that shows the public is worried about the effects of fracking, which he thinks is helping to motivate groups such as the chamber to get involved.
“The chamber is well-suited and well-qualified to present an economic perspective, but there is an equally compelling perspective, and that is the protection of public health, safety and the environment,” he said.
The chamber’s Ohio campaign is the first of what will likely be several state-level efforts. Others are slated for West Virginia and Pennsylvania, two other states with booming oil and gas industries, Guith said.
His group has not taken a position on Gov. John Kasich’s proposal to raise taxes on oil and gas production. But when asked about the plan, Guith said the state “doesn’t want to run the risk of snuffing out these jobs.”