Rep. Clint Owlett joins other Pennsylvania House Republicans in announcing legislative plans to divest from Russian financial assets and invest in freedom by empowering Pennsylvania’s energy producers to meet new oil and gas demands.

Legislative Republicans are using Russia’s invasion of Ukraine to justify additional natural gas drilling.

Five bills were introduced just last week aiming to boost the state’s natural gas industry, all citing Russia’s attack on Ukraine as reasons to move quickly.

Rep. Clint Owlett, R-Tioga/Bradford/Potter, proposes allowing non-surface drilling on state lands as a response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. House Bill 2461 would require the state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources to establish a program to lease subsurface rights under state lands for oil and gas development. New leases are not allowed through a moratorium approved by Gov. Tom Wolf.

“One of the key ways that we can do so is to allow for the extraction of our oil and gas resources underneath our state lands, which unfortunately has not been possible based on the governor’s moratorium on new leases,” Owlett wrote in his legislative memorandum. “We can do this in a way that preserves our state lands the way they are now in an environmentally conscious manner by requiring that the surface well site be placed outside of state property. The revenue generated from leasing the subsurface rights will create a vital, continuous source of money that will be used to promote and protect our environment in Pennsylvania, but most importantly put us on a path where we as a country are not relying on Russian gas.”

Rep. Stan Saylor, R-York, introduced House Resolution 187 to ban the importing of natural gas and oil from Russia. But, just as importantly, Saylor’s resolution calls for New York and New Jersey to end “pro-Putin pipeline bans” and allow the construction of new pipelines to allow Pennsyvlania’s oil and gas to reach the New England states.

Natural gas is four times more expensive in New England than it is in mid-Atlantic states, the resolution states.

“Like all of you, I am appalled by the recent unprovoked Russian attack on Ukraine,” Saylor wrote in his legislative memorandum. “I am equally appalled that we as a nation are helping to fund Putin’s war through the import of Russian oil and natural gas. That’s why I am introducing a resolution to urge New York Governor Kathy Hochul and New Jersey Governor Philip Murphy to end their states’ policies banning the construction of any new natural gas pipelines. Policies in New York and New Jersey banning the construction of new natural gas pipelines has walled off Pennsylvania natural gas from accessing markets in New England. As a result, New England states often must rely on Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) imports from foreign nations, including Russia.”

Rep. Jonathan Fritz, R-Wayne/Susquehanna, is focused on allowing landowners to lease land located in the Delaware River Basin for fracking. The action has been prohibited by the Delaware River Basin Commission. Fritz proposes reallocating voting rights on the commission so the decision can be reversed. Pennsylvania would have six votes under Fritz’s plan, with New Jersey having three votes, New York two votes, and Delaware and the federal government each receiving one vote.

“Seeing the Russia and Ukraine atrocity makes it so vividly clear that we need to focus on accessing domestic energy sources,” Fritz said. “Pennsylvania is blessed to sit atop an abundant amount of clean burning natural gas and we need to focus on getting that to market.”

Rep. Seth Grove, R-York, proposes a varied approach with his “End Russian Aggression Act. In addition to increasing drilling in the Commonwealth, Grove’s bill would also reform the drilling permit process and provide funding for pipeline development to increase distribution to other parts of the nation and the world. It would also end Pennsylvania’s participation in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI). Joining RGGI significantly increases operating costs for power plants, and those costs will be passed on to consumers. The action would also lead to significant job loss in the energy industry.

“Now is not the time to hinder our natural gas industry. Rather, we must increase it to further secure our energy sector and decrease, if not zero out completely, American’s reliance on foreign gas,” Grove said. “This bill would also increase jobs here in Pennsylvania, improving our economy.”

Pennsylvania is the third-largest net supplier of total energy to other states, after Wyoming and Texas, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Pennsylvania’s marketed natural gas production, primarily from the Marcellus Shale, reached a record 7.1 trillion cubic feet in 2020, and the state is the nation’s second-largest natural gas producer after Texas. More than half of Pennsylvania households use natural gas as their primary home heating fuel, and the state’s 49 underground gas storage sites–the most for any state–help meet regional heating demand in winter.