Montrose Area elementary students worked through the six learning stations in a 2017 MOLU lab visit. Each station is outfitted with four separate lessons with activities tied into science, history and career exploration. FILE PHOTO/STACI WILSON
With a look back and an eye focused on the future, Cabot Oil & Gas Company announced last month, the creation of the Energy Education Fund.
The announcement by Cabot CEO Dan Dinges came at an event held at the Community Foundation of the Endless Mountains in Montrose. The Community Foundation is managing the fund.
The fund, started with a $60,000 investment by Cabot and other community partners, will allow for every school to bring in the Mobile Oilfield Learning Unit (MOLU) at no cost to the school districts.
George Stark, Cabot’s Director of External Affairs, said it costs about $2,000 for the MOLU to visit one school. “We don’t want a school asking for those dollars,” he said.
The MOLU lab is targeted toward fifth and sixth graders with hands-on STEM learning stations.
“We’re just building on all we have done,’ Stark said. “We see it as the next step.”
Prior to announcing the creation of the fund, Dinges noted community investments the company has made in the past 10 years. He noted $2 billion paid in royalties to landowners which has allowed for them to invest in homes and equipment.
“We’re going to be up here for a long time,” Dinges said, adding current indications foresee natural gas drilling continuing into the 2040s.
As a company, Dinges said 68-70 percent of the 325 local employees are under 40 years old. “They want to be here, and stay here. That’s how you build a vibrant community.”
In celebrating the past decade in the county, Stark pointed to other community investments the company has made, including True Friends, the Susquehanna County Library, Endless Mountains Health Systems, Lackawanna College. “All the work has been done with the community in mind,” he said.
And noting Dinges’ talk of drilling for the next three decades, Stark said, “We’re just getting started.”
For information or to donate to the Energy Education Fund, visit www.energyeducationfund.com
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