A life-long resident of Howard Township, Centre County, Pa., Congressman Glenn 'GT' Thompson represents Pennsylvania’s Fifteenth District in the U.S. House of Representatives.
Prior to being elected to Pennsylvania’s geographically largest congressional district, GT spent 28 years as a therapist, rehabilitation services manager, and a licensed nursing home administrator. Through his professional experiences, GT has touched the lives of thousands of individuals facing life-altering conditions. As a result, he has learned firsthand the importance of access to quality healthcare and has become a strong advocate for increased access, affordability, quality of care, and patient choice.
Pennsylvania is uniquely positioned to play a major role in energy production in the coming decades because of the Marcellus Shale Natural Gas Play. Many believe that the Marcellus contains upwards of 500 trillion cubic feet of clean burning natural gas; and may be the largest unconventional natural gas play in the world. This equates to generations of natural gas production in Pennsylvania and the potential for long-term economic growth for the Commonwealth. In addition, the Utica Shale formation rests below, and the Upper Devonian layer can be found above the Marcellus. If developed properly, the Marcellus Shale on its own has the potential to revitalize our region, create massive new wealth, significant increases in tax revenue, and bring Pennsylvania out of our economic slump and into prosperity. This is not short term development – and we will continue to need the appropriate regulatory support. I have been active in engaging regulators, producers, landowners and institutions such as Penn State in order to work with the community and educate people on the potential of this vast resource.
In Congress, I serve co-chairman of the Natural Gas Caucus, which is a bipartisan group of Members dedicated to championing the use of clean, plentiful, domestic natural gas. This group is committed to informing and educating Members of Congress and the American people about this clean-burning domestic fuel and new technologies, such as horizontal and directional drilling, which have vastly expanded America’s access to this bountiful natural resource. The practice of horizontal drilling provides significant benefits by reducing the footprint of oil and gas production and allowing for directional drilling in order to leave areas of environmental concern undisturbed. Because of horizontal drilling, the Marcellus has become technologically and economically viable. And because of this technology, operators can drill upwards of five to eight horizontal wells in the Marcellus from a single well pad.
Discovering environmentally-friendly ways to produce natural gas and explore the ways natural gas can help meet our country’s energy needs is fundamentally important in charting our nation’s path to energy security.