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Dave McCormick speaks during a rally on March 30 in McCandless. He has pushed natural gas as an economic engine to drive Pennsylvania as part of his campaign for the GOP nomination for U.S. Senate.
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GOP Senate candidate Dave McCormick sees Pennsylvania's natural gas as driver of state's economy

Alexandra Wimley/Post-Gazette

GOP Senate candidate Dave McCormick sees Pennsylvania's natural gas as driver of state's economy

Dave McCormick isn’t just leaning in to his affinity for natural gas and fracking in his bid for U.S. Senate in Pennsylvania. He’s climbing onto a rig at your nearest drilling site and he has the receipts.

Mr. McCormick, a former hedge fund CEO running in the Republican primary, said in an interview Thursday with the Post-Gazette that he was fresh off two visits earlier in the day to drilling and production sites in Washington County and Butler County, and in one, got on a rig where Range Resources is drilling.

In some ways, it’s the culmination of a direct effort — at many points on the campaign trail — to talk of how energy is “the long pole in the tent for Pennsylvania’s economic future,” he said.

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Like other members of his party, Mr. McCormick is accusing President Joe Biden’s administration of fostering a restrictive environment for energy production, made worse by comparing it to the recent past, when former President Donald Trump championed natural gas, they say.

Mr. McCormick says he wants to help “unlock” the potential of Pennsylvania’s natural gas reserves and realize the full potential of how crucial they are to the country’s economic wellbeing. It’ll bring jobs to the commonwealth, too, he said — in manufacturing, yes, but also downstream.

His comments come as the White House tries to hit back against the critics of its energy policies, who connect them to rising gas prices, as Mr. Biden insists that he’s not limiting domestic energy production.

Mr. Biden said last month, according to the website The Hill, that even “amid the pandemic, companies in the U.S. pumped more oil during my first year in office than they did during my predecessor’s first year.”

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But for many Republicans, the criticism is lobbed at the environment the federal government is fostering for energy producers, amid its stated desire to transition to a clean energy future.

Mr. McCormick is pitching three specific proposals to “unlock” the potential of U.S. energy, saying first that he’d work to streamline the federal permitting process that has recently hindered pipeline capacity.

He also said that in a sector where capital investments have to be enormous, there can’t be so much uncertainty and so many shifting regulations. It’s leading to pipeline projects being canceled, he said.

“You simply can’t make bets if you don’t have certainty on what the rules are,” Mr. McCormick said.

His third proposal is a common one to Republicans in Pennsylvania: using the state’s reserves to export natural gas to a global market through liquid natural gas facilities (LNG).

The Philadelphia Inquirer reported this week that the developer of a $60 million LNG plant in South Philadelphia pulled back from the project, saying the “market is looking at new solutions to meet both environmental and economic goals of the city.”

Partners on the project implied to the Inquirer that the plant was just on hold, not dead — as opponents expressed fears that the plant would generate pollution and encourage the production of more natural gas when the nation should be investing in renewable energy, according to the newspaper.

The Senate primary is on May 17, and the GOP contest — with energy emerging as a top issue — is between Mr. McCormick, cardiothoracic surgeon and television personality Mehmet Oz, former U.S. ambassador Carla Sands, political commentator Kathy Barnette and businessman Jeff Bartos, among others.

Julian Routh: jrouth@post-gazette.com; Twitter: @julianrouth

First Published: April 7, 2022, 10:53 p.m.
Updated: April 8, 2022, 9:54 a.m.

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Dave McCormick speaks during a rally on March 30 in McCandless. He has pushed natural gas as an economic engine to drive Pennsylvania as part of his campaign for the GOP nomination for U.S. Senate.  (Alexandra Wimley/Post-Gazette)
Alexandra Wimley/Post-Gazette
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