“DeIuliis’s rise at CNX coincided with the advance of fracking — the process that revolutionized the U.S. energy industry by making it possible to extract oil and gas from shale rocks — and Consol’s move into natural gas. The shale revolution had a major impact on Pennsylvania, where gas output soared to about 7 trillion cubic feet last year — 35 times the amount produced in 2008. The state now produces almost 20% of U.S. gas output, second only to Texas. The industry accounts for about 245,000 direct and indirect jobs in the state, according to a July study by PricewaterhouseCoopers.

“The gas industry ‘basically returned the middle class, the family-sustaining wages, the economic growth engines’ for Appalachia, DeIuliis said.

“While climate scientists warn of global warming’s world-destroying potential, DeIuliis says the Appalachian gas industry is facing an existential threat of its own — from the energy transition. He notes that the fuel has come under attack from environmental groups because of its impact on climate change, and in recent years, pipeline projects aimed at moving gas from Pennsylvania to markets such as New Jersey and New York have been killed because of such concerns, limiting the ability of CNX and other shale explorers to boost output. Unleashing the region’s full production potential could help boost living standards in poor, energy-scarce countries, he added…

“DeIuliis argues that underinvestment in natural gas will put the U.S. at risk of a similar energy crunch, boosting the risk of power outages.

“‘It’s inevitable that New York or Boston is going to face an energy crisis, if winter gets cold and if supply and demand is imbalanced in part because of these types of policies,’ he said.”