Penn State gas drilling study questioned over industry tie; school, researcher defend work

PSU drilling study questioned over industry tie

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. — A Penn State study which paints a rosy forecast on the economic potential of natural gas drilling has been greeted with skepticism from a citizens group and a think tank which favors a severance tax because the research was funded by an industry group.

The university says the Marcellus Shale Coalition will pay more than $50,000 for the study released last month co-authored in part by researchers at Penn State’s College of Earth and Mineral Sciences.

The industry group in a release on its website boasts that among the key findings are the potential to create more than 200,000 jobs over the next decade.

Critics say the findings are overblown, but a study author and the coalition say the methods used to arrive at the findings are fairly common.