In January, David Callahan began his tenure as president of the Marcellus Shale Coalition (MSC), but that wasn't his first role as an industry advocate - far from it.
A lifelong Pennsylvania native, Callahan's hometown was built during the region's oil boom days in the 1880s. Like many area residents, Callahan has always had family in the oil and gas workforce, meaning discussions revolving around energy and natural gas issues have been a constant fixture of his life from his earliest days.
When the MSC was founded in 2008, Callahan immediately knew he wanted to be involved because he recognized the many benefits the coalition could offer, from energy and national security to economic development and environmental progress. "I naturally gravitated toward the MSC because it seemed like an incredible opportunity," he said. "I'm now proud and humbled to lead the organization."
The first job of Callahan's 30-year career in the industry was performing research for a state trade association, after which he transitioned into advocacy work, lobbying on behalf of Pennsylvania's natural gas and distribution interests.
"It's been a great ride ever since," he fondly recalled.
One of the lessons advocacy has reinforced in Callahan is the value of listening.
"Listening is a big part of success, no matter what the job is," he shared. "Listening to conversations and to the needs of people so you can put them in proper context and figure out how to meet those needs - the importance of listening and understanding can't be understated. It's a big part of government affairs and relations, but it's a big part of leadership as well."
As MSC president, Callahan doesn't feel that he needs to reinvent the wheel, so to speak.
"I walked into an organization that already had an absolutely outstanding team. I wouldn't change anything," he said. Callahan is proud of what the MSC had already accomplished before his presidency, but he sees the greatest successes as being those of the industry as a whole.
Callahan credited the shale industry with having transformed Pennsylvania into the U.S.'s No. 2 natural gas producer, of supporting hundreds of thousands of jobs and for lowering the commonwealth's CO2 emissions by roughly 40 percent, all while lowering electricity and natural gas costs for consumers.
These incredible results underscore the necessity for the MSC to vocally debunk the false choice between economic success or environmental performance. "We're achieving both through the use of natural gas," Callahan emphasized. "And we can achieve even more in the future."
He also recognized the challenge faced by all segments of the larger oil and gas industry: lobbying national, state and local elected officials to make objective, scientific facts the priority in their decision making, rather than leaning on ill-informed narratives.
"It's a bipartisan issue; we have folks from both sides of the aisle who support our industry," he noted. "It's tremendous to see. We need to share all the good things the shale industry is doing on the economic and environmental fronts and show that we're a big part of the future."
To accomplish that mission, the coalition relies upon the strength of its members' engagement.
"Our members are the lifeblood of our organization," he said. "I want MSC to continue providing an environment where our members can individually excel and engage in the organization to help make the whole industry even better."
For more information, visit www.marcelluscoalition.org or call (412) 706-5160.
