On March 21, APGA’s Executive Vice President, Dave Schryver, addressed the City of Richmond, Va., City Council Land Use Committee regarding their consideration of a resolution that supports a zoning ordinance amendment to prohibit the use of hydraulic fracturing to extract natural gas from within the city boundaries. In his presentation to the committee, Dave discussed the benefits that the direct-use of natural gas provides including the fact that it is highly efficient, clean, domestically-produced and affordable. Dave also communicated that given the extent of the development that has occurred in the city boundaries, for all practical purposes it was extremely unlikely that natural gas production would occur within the city boundaries.
Dave was joined in his presentation by James Voyles, of the Consumer Energy Alliance (CEA), who provided an overview of the hydraulic fracturing process. CEA is a consumer advocacy organization that represents families, farmers, transporters, distributers, manufacturers, small business owners, and energy producers all across the country. APGA has been a member of CEA for several years and David Holt, CEA’s President, has been a speaker at APGA’s conferences where he has discussed challenges and opportunities for energy production. During his remarks, James communicated that hydraulic fracturing is a safe and proven method that has been used for over 65 years.
After considerable debate, the three members of the City Council Land Use Committee agreed to move the resolution forward to the full City Council with no recommendation on whether to support or oppose it so that all of the City Council members could participate in the debate on, and education surrounding, the issue. For questions on this article, please contact Dave Schryver of APGA staff by phone at 202-464-2742 or by email at
dschryver@apga.org.