Gubernatorial Candidate, Guy Ciarrocchi Visits NEPA to Explore the Benefits of Local Natural Gas
As the CEO of the Chester County Chamber of Business and Industry since 2015, Guy Ciarrocchi understands the importance of local business. He’s also seen how Harrisburg does and doesn’t work as a former top aide to former Lt. Gov. Jim Cawley. In 2011, he toured the Marcellus shale with Cawley and has watched how the natural gas industry has grown and the interplay between local businesses and the community at large.
“I understand what it can mean to our economy and our quality of life,” he told participants of the Rural Energy Coalition region meeting. As governor, he explained, it would be the job of him and his team to identify major issues and build bridges and coalitions to get problems solved. “I want to be the governor to be sure that we are the number one natural gas producer in the country – a state where people are coming to start their businesses and to grow.”
Such a coalition, he noted, would involve leaders not only from the energy sector, but also life sciences, agriculture, manufacturing, and education. Together, Guy related, we can make Pennsylvania a destination state and reverse the “brain drain” trend that has long affected our labor force. If we work together, he insisted, “Kids from Florida and Texas will leave there to come here because this is an exciting place to raise a family.”
Infrastructure – especially an increase in the network of pipelines throughout the state – is also at the top of Guy’s agenda. Projects have stalled, he suggested, because there are no energy experts at the senior level to make the case for pipeline construction and to build a consensus with environmental groups. Even in Chester County, he noted, people don’t understand how vital petroleum is to products they use every day and the jobs that can be created here by embracing new, safer technologies.
“The governor of Pennsylvania has largely been invisible,” Guy said of Tom Wolf’s inability to get public perception and education caught up with a changing world. “The next governor has to talk about tech schools and the trades as being a viable career path.”