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What percentage of workers actually work in fracking in PA? Why does fracking in PA have such a unilateral effect on policy? I did some digging and quick maths @thehill/1320451311884787712Permalink On twitter.com
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PA has 12.8 million people, 10.24 of them are over the age of 18. Between 20,000 to 50,000 people in the state work in fracking specifically. So that's a maximum of 0.1% of the labor force. Pennsylvania adults, by the way, make up just 5% of the US's total adult labor force.Permalink On twitter.com
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So both parties are super hard in favor of fracking because in 0.1% of 5% of American adults may have to find a job elsewhere. A job that the government could absolutely help them find or subsidize the wages of until these workers do find a new job. ????????????Permalink On twitter.com
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Maybe you could argue that fracking has positive externalities for people outside of the fracking industry in PA, and that's why we're talking about it so much. Except, here's the thing: people in PA are split on if they support fracking or not.Permalink On twitter.com
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Yeah, it turns out if a state has a lot of fracking jobs, there are EVEN MORE PEOPLE who have to LIVE next to fracking sites, and have to deal with unsafe water, air pollution, and other negative effects.Permalink On twitter.com
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So let's just recap: - both parties support subsidizing an industry that contributes to climate change and local pollution because 0.1% of 5% of American workers need those jobs - they do so despite polling showing that most people would want it bannedPermalink On twitter.com
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They call this the "freest democracy on Earth". The one in which both parties support unpopular legislation because corporate backers said so. And in which the electoral system somehow weighs the votes of 20,000 people in one state against literally everyone elsePermalink On twitter.com
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Sources: census.gov/quickfacts/PA infoplease.com/us/census/demographic-statistics penncapital-star.com/energy-environment/new-fm-poll-pennsylvania-voters-split-on-fracking/On twitter.com