DN Editorial: How do we love you, gas drillers? Let us count the ways.

EVER SINCE technological developments allowed drillers to access the vast deposits of natural gas that lie in underground shale formations in the U.S. - with the second-largest in the world practically under our feet - fortune has smiled on the natural gas industry.

Just last week, President Obama singled out natural gas as a way to reduce our dependence on foreign oil. Even oilman T. Boone Pickens is a champion of natural gas, and is among those pushing for powering big trucks with the stuff. And Congress is considering a set of tax incentives for the industry.

But even with its seemingly charmed existence, there are few places on earth where the industry is more favored than in the state of Pennsylvania. In fact, so much does the Keystone State love the industry that we should be renamed the Fracking State. We're the only ones, for example, who don't tax the extraction of gas. Not only would a tax be a good idea for generating revenue, but it would also help mitigate the impact that drilling can have on the environment and on communities

Barely four months in office, Gov. Corbett vows that he won't tax the industry - either with fees or undue oversight. For example, he stacked a 30-member Marcellus Shale Advisory Committee with a 13 representatives with ties to the gas industry - including a new head of the economic development that has been granted broad powers to fast-track the permitting process.

That's a lot of love. But just in case the industry doubts our love, last week, the Department of Environmental Protection issued rules requiring that gas inspectors stop annoying gas drillers with pesky citations without first running them past a top DEP official. That's like requiring a cop to call in before writing a speeding ticket.

The DEP insisted that the change wasn't designed as a gift to the industry - which contributed nearly a million dollars to Corbett's campaign - but to clear up inconsistencies in violations. Former DEP head John Hanger called the move "extraordinary," to require the inspector get approval by two political appointees: the secretary and the deputy secretary.

After such hue and cry, DEP retreated and said the requirement was a three-month "pilot." Still, the messages this action sent were disturbing: 1. Inspectors should think twice before issuing citations. 2. Regulation of gas drilling should not inconvenience drillers and 3. Gas drillers rule . . . literally.

This is not to say that the natural-gas industry should be demonized. Natural-gas reserves could make a serious dent in our dependence on foreign oil. And the Marcellus Shale drilling has created jobs - among the reasons the state was among the top seven job-creating states in the nation last year.

Given the boons to energy security and employment that drilling can bring, it's natural to want to fast-track gas extraction. But given the environmental impacts from drilling - which involves high-pressured fracturing of rock to release gas deposits that can turn land and water toxic - it would be dangerous to race into expansion without making sure the costs are kept to a minimum. If the short-term choice is between undrinkable water and a few more years of high gas prices and foreign oil, we'll take the latter. *