All through the Gulf oil spill disaster opponents to drilling in the Marcellus Shale have drawn parallels between that horrible event and the similar disaster that would befall New Yorkers should drilling be allowed in our state. Drilling for oil off the US coast a mile above the ocean floor is a different operation than drilling for natural gas on land but drilling opponents like to link the two in another attempt to scare New Yorkers and sway leaders.

There is one area however, where these two drilling operations are similar. That is the understanding that a moratorium will dramatically hurt drilling and has a long term effect on jobs in the region. The Obama administration is considering lifting the six month ban that they hastily placed on off shore drilling because they have learned that these giant and very expensive rigs don’t sit idle when not in use. Companies are moving the rigs to other parts of the world and the jobs are going with them. This is severely hurting Gulf States and will have an impact for years to come. Similarly, the moratorium on drilling in the Marcellus Shale forces drillers to plan for their rigs to be used in friendlier states. There are a finite number of rigs in the US and they are always in use. Rig plans are done many months or even years in advance of drilling. A moratorium on shale drilling in New York doesn’t just put off business for nine months it could push drilling out for years and significantly postpone the resulting economic boost that development of the Marcellus Shale will provide.