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Drilling Industry No Panacea for W.Va.

For some time, North Dakota seemed a model for what oil and gas drilling could do for a state. Some West Virginia officials visited the state to learn how government there was capitalizing on the shale drilling revolution.

But Mountain State residents hoping we can be helped by a similar experience may have to rethink their desires.

West Virginia legislators are having to cope with a $400 million hole in the state budget. In North Dakota, the shortfall is $1.2 billion, in part because of state spending that relied too much on revenue from the drilling boom.

Here in the Mountain State, we can sympathize. We are suffering from a similar reliance on coal. North Dakota is just another reminder of the danger of a narrowly-based economy.

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