WashCo GOP floods frack meeting
There are more efforts underway to pack tonight's shale task force hearing with fracking-friendly voices, this time in a joint effort by the Washington County GOP and drillers Range Resources.
The Dept. of Energy meeting tonight at Washington & Jefferson College is shaping up as a doozy, 
with protests by anti-drilling activists and efforts by industry lobbyists to pay for pro-drilling landowners to travel there from the state's northeast. On Saturday the WashCo GOP got into the fray, in an email asking drilling supporters to get in line to speak two and a half hours before the hearing begins. From the mail:
The opposition groups are already mobilizing people from outside of the region and state to flood this event. We need employees, service companies, land owners, sub contractors and everyone else. They will be accepting speakers on a first come basis. Meaning we need to have people lining up no later than 4:30 for registration and then to fill the room.
The message then says supporters should contact Range communications specialist Mark Windle for more information. We asked Windle for comment but have not heard back.
This isn't the first time Range Resoursces has linked up with Republican-friendly voices: lead spokesman Matt Pitzarella was a scheduled speaker at the Tea Party tax day rally in Market Square two months ago.
UPDATE: Pitzarella sent us this statement on the GOP email:
I imagine they listed a Range employee because we’re the most active driller in Washington County and the meeting is about drilling and it’s scheduled in Washington County. Just as there will be voices expressing concern with gas drilling, there are thousands of people with leases and thousands more working in the industry here, so I expect those voices to be there and to be heard. Either way, I don’t think any of this should take away from the fact that President Obama and Secretary Chu want natural gas to be developed responsibly and to be a part of our clean energy portfolio, which is good news for Pennsylvania.
Full email after the jump:
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Washington County Republican Party
Date: Sat, Jun 11, 2011 at 10:09 AM
Subject: Re:June 13 Natural Gas Meeting
To: Washington County Republican Party
Another good meeting to attend:
This is a rare opportunity to publicly demonstrate our support and influence President Obama’s Secretary of Energy Advisory Board Natural Gas Subcommittee who is making recommendations to the President on how to “make sure natural gas development is done safely.”
The opposition groups are already mobilizing people from outside of the region and state to flood this event. We need employees, service companies, land owners, sub contractors and everyone else. They will be accepting speakers on a first come basis. Meaning we need to have people lining up no later than 4:30 for registration and then to fill the room.
We need as many people as possible to show up and sign up to speak. Just 2 minutes to speak – who they are, where they’re from, why natural gas has helped them, and any other additional encouraging words.
If you have any additional questions please contact Mark Windle at Range Resources.