President Obama's message in the State of the Union in support of shale gas drilling likely found a receptive audience in parts of Pennsylvania—a state considered essential to his reelection effort in 2012, according to an article in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
According to the author, "Statewide, 50 percent of Pennsylvanians said shale gas will provide more long-term benefits than problems, while 32 percent saw it the other way, according to a November poll conducted by Mr. Borick and Barry Rabe at the University of Michigan."
President Obama stated a renewed effort to safely develop America's natural gas reserves, projecting it could create 600,000 jobs by the end of the decade. He also applauded the public research funding that helped develop the hydraulic-fracturing technology that has made extracting natural gas from shale rock possible—to the disconcertion of many environmental groups.
Pennsylvania, a state expected to very competitive in the 2012 presidential election, has a number of natural gas deposits and pro-drilling constituents.
Barry Rabe's work cited in Pittsburgh Post-Gazette article on President Obama's shale gas endorsement.
January 29, 2012