Energy Tomorrow Blog
Sommers: Fracking Helps Consumers, Environment
fracking hydraulic fracturing jobs economic growth
Mark Green
Posted February 25, 2020
Listen to API President and CEO Mike Sommers make the case for safe hydraulic fracturing – the chief reason the U.S. is the world’s leading natural gas and oil producer – during an interview with CNBC.
Sommers makes the affirmative argument for fracking because some presidential candidates are talking about banning it – as well as federal natural gas and oil leasing. Sommers said millions of good-paying American jobs, U.S. security and significant environmental progress could be at risk if those advocating a ban on fracking get their way.
The CNBC appearance was among interviews Sommers gave while in New York City last week. In each of them Sommers underscored the vast benefits to the U.S. from modern fracking technology.
NEPA Reform Needed to Improve Local Infrastructure
environmental review infrastructure permit delays
Sam Winstel
Posted February 24, 2020
The nation’s infrastructure needs some love.
To reverse the deteriorating state of the U.S. transportation, communication and energy supply networks – which recently earned a D+ from the American Society of Civil Engineers – we need a national commitment to more purposefully and efficiently get important projects off the drawing board and into development. Without it, America’s ability to compete in the 21st-century economy will be hindered.
As we’ve discussed (here and here), proposed reforms to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) are critical to accelerating much-needed infrastructure improvements in every state and, in turn, creating good-paying jobs and spurring economic growth. Review processes under NEPA – which was last updated in 1978 – have significantly impeded infrastructure progress, delaying projects for years and years.
The Crippling Costs of a Fracking Ban
fracking politics us energy security jobs economic losses
Mark Green
Posted February 21, 2020
API’s new video, “The Costs of a Fracking Ban,” pulls no punches: Ending the technology most responsible for the U.S. energy revolution – as proposed by some politicians – would harm millions of Americans and weaken the nation’s security.
With 95% of new natural gas and oil wells developed with hydraulic fracturing, a ban on fracking most likely would end U.S. global leadership in natural gas and oil production and make America weaker, less secure. It would hamstring the economy and could cost millions of jobs. Average household costs could increase, and entire communities could be waylaid in the process.
Industry is Committed to Innovating Climate Solutions
ccs technology carbon storage climate
John D. Siciliano
Posted February 19, 2020
It will take new breakthroughs and technological know-how to build a cleaner energy future, and no one is better positioned to lead the way through innovation than our industry. …
Through new alliances and partnerships, our companies are investing in carbon capture, utilization and storage, or CCUS, to remove greenhouse gases from power-plant smokestacks, refineries and even directly out of the air itself.
Natural Gas Severance Tax Punishes Pennsylvanians
pennsylvania severance tax natural gas production
Sam Winstel
Posted February 18, 2020
Another year, another punitive natural gas tax proposal from Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf, his sixth bid for a severance tax in six years.
We say “punitive,” because Wolf’s tax hike would effectively punish an industry that has been good for Pennsylvania, contributing $1.7 billion in impact fees since 2012 while boosting the commonwealth’s economy and supporting hundreds of thousands of jobs.
Benefits of U.S. Natural Gas are Out of This World
Jessica Lutz
Posted February 14, 2020
We’ve talked at length about the domestic benefits of natural gas – for families, communities, the environment and national security, just to name a few – but today we’re looking beyond the emissions reductions, economic growth and energy resiliency afforded by this abundant domestic resource. More specifically … to infinity and beyond!
NASA recently unveiled 16 scientific experiments and technology demonstrations that will hitch a ride to the moon in July 2021, half of which will be launched on ULA’s Vulcan Centaur rocket clad with Jeff Bezos’ BE-4 rocket engines – fueled with liquefied natural gas (LNG).
For NEPA Reform in Colorado & Across the U.S.
environmental review infrastructure colorado pipeline expansion
Sam Winstel
Posted February 12, 2020
You won’t find better examples of how the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) has blocked much-needed infrastructure than in Colorado – where the first of two public hearings on implementing the regulation was held this week.
Numerous projects in Colorado have been – or are currently – on-hold due to NEPA reviews, including the Interstate-70 widening near Denver that will deliver much-needed safety and capacity improvements for drivers. The Environmental Impact Statement for this highway took 13 years to complete and totaled nearly 16,000 pages, finally receiving construction approval in 2017.
SOAE 2020: This is Lansing
economic growth michigan state of american energy oil and natural gas development
Mark Green
Posted February 11, 2020
Lansing, Michigan, has come a long way since the days of high unemployment and general malaise, when people joked that the last person to leave Michigan should turn out the lights. Today, Lansing is on the rise – one of many communities across the country that have been helped by the empowering nature of abundant U.S. natural gas and oil (see API’s 2020 State of American Energy report).
Lansing is home to new auto manufacturing plants, and the municipal utility, Lansing Board of Water & Light (BWL), is replacing the last of its coal-fired generation facilities with a $500 million natural gas-fueled power plant.Policies to Support American Energy Leadership
state of the union american energy Energy Security
Sam Winstel
Posted February 6, 2020
During this week’s State of the Union address, President Trump kept with the decades-long tradition – and agreed with each of his six predecessors – by acknowledging the economic importance of domestic natural gas and oil production and outlining the policy pathways to a stronger energy future. The president noted that the U.S. has become the No. 1 producer of natural gas and oil anywhere in the world, by far, and that energy jobs are a record high.
Today, America is not only the world’s leading energy producer, for the first time in nearly 60 years, the U.S. is also a net exporter of total energy. As recently as 2009, energy imports represented 44% of the national trade deficit, but dropped to 5.2% in 2018 and then 1.2% in the first 10 months of 2019.
EIA’s Outlook: Natural Gas and Oil Remain Integral to U.S.
eia forecast economic growth oil and natural gas production us energy security
Mark Green
Posted February 5, 2020
The federal government’s latest energy projections are out, and they portray a U.S. energy future that continues to be driven by natural gas and oil.
It’s a future noteworthy for continued production growth, greater efficiency, the U.S. as a net energy exporter and emissions progress. All are connected in various ways to shale reserves and safe, modern hydraulic fracturing – and at risk if fracking were banned as some have advocated.
Americans understand how far the United States has come in the past decade and a half, thanks to shale and hydraulic fracturing, helping advance the goal voiced by U.S. presidents since Jimmy Carter of seeing this country end its reliance on foreign energy. Indeed, in December the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) confirmed the United States as a net exporter of energy in total for the first time since the 1950s. This is an historic sign of new U.S. global energy leadership, and it shouldn’t be thrown away with foolish policy choices.