Setting the Record Straight on a Key Energy Reality

Megan Bloomgren
Posted February 24, 2022

A recent editorial in The Washington Post earlier this month sought to give advice on energy issues to vulnerable Democrats in Congress ahead of the midterm elections.

Authored by the Post’s editorial board, the Feb. 12 editorial suggested that the way to “protect Americans from oil-price shocks is to cut the nation’s reliance on oil.”

Besides questioning the logic of the Post’s assertion, the International Energy Agency (IEA) estimates that nearly half of all energy used globally in 2040 will come from natural gas and oil – even if all 196 nations party to the Paris Climate Agreement meet their emissions reduction goals.

While innovations are well underway to meet a lower-carbon future, the fact is that we’ll need more energy – not less – as the world’s population is projected to reach more than 9 billion people by the middle of the century.

With about half of the world’s energy use in 2040 coming from natural gas and oil, the important consideration is where that energy is produced:

• Here in America, with among the most stringent environmental standards, safety laws, and a stable investment climate for producing natural gas and oil?
• Or should production shift overseas to nations, which may have fewer environmental protections and other murky governance?

Additionally, investments in American energy versus foreign nations bring greater national security and self-reliance (which is on display this week with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine). American energy also brings more reliable energy for manufacturing; more American jobs; more state revenue for education, transportation, and other essential services; and more federal revenue from energy operations directed to conservation efforts in parks and public lands.

The choice is clear, as innovation and private sector investment in American energy technologies and fuels have made the U.S. a global leader in cutting emissions.

Reporters, editors and policymakers should know that the path to lower and stable energy costs, as well as a lower-carbon future, starts with removing regulatory, legal and policy barriers to unleash investment in American energy production and infrastructure. Restricting U.S. natural gas and oil production is what leads us toward price shocks and other uncertainty.