CHARLESTON – A bill in Congress has been proposed that could ban the export of Marcellus Shale gas to other countries.
Retired Capt. James McCormick, the State Program Director of Vets4Energy, said the bill was being kicked around in Congress, along with the bill to lift the crude oil ban that was passed earlier this year.
McCormick said Vets4Energy does not support a ban on the export.
“We have so much of [the Marcellus Shale] and we could create a whole lot of jobs for a whole lot of veterans if we could export the gas from it,” McCormick said.
McCormick said the bill has to do with water usage and to ensure that everyone has access to gas.
The building of pipelines could open up jobs because of the continued drilling, McCormick said.
“We’ve got an industry to pick up the job loss our nation has had,” McCormick said. “To become an energy-independent nation, we need to utilize that industry.”
McCormick said the last thing Americans want to do is limit the industry.
Another bill recently introduced and passed lifting the ban on crude oil exports in America. President Barack Obama issued a threat to veto the bill, saying that America needed to move toward more clean energy.
