Whenever you hear about energy prices, the focus is always on oil. In the media the stories are "Oil this, or oil that." The truth, however, is that the future of American energy production is a story of natural gas. There's a whole host of reasons for my statement, but here are the most important ones.
1. America is by far the world's largest repository of natural gas. The USA has something like a third of all the world's reserves of this fuel. We are the world's largest producer of natural gas. The USA is not about to be left at the mercy of foreign sources when it comes to this fuel.
2. Natural gas is by far the cleanest fossil fuel. Switching a power plant from coal to natural gas reduces the resulting pollution coming from the plant by roughly two thirds. Switching a truck from diesel fuel to natural gas reduces emissions by almost half.
3. Natural gas is currently the least expensive fuel and is likely to stay inexpensive for the foreseeable future. Coal prices are also low, but that is primarily because the government has been limiting the possible uses of coal to such a great extent. Oil prices are low at the moment, be even now, oil is still more expensive than natural gas.
4. America can export natural gas to the rest of the world and gain huge markets for our products. Literally millions of jobs can be created as the natural gas industry expands and affiliated jobs are created here. We have sufficient reserves of gas that producing more and exporting it to Europe or Asia will not raise prices here in a meaningful way. The USA wins because it gets the jobs and economic activity. Europe and Asia win because they get less expensive energy from a reliable source. The only losers are OPEC and Russia.
Right now, more and more trucks and buses should be switching from diesel to natural gas. The transformation is happening, but the federal government is slowing it rather than encouraging it. Right now, the export of natural gas should be booming, but the federal government is again slowing it rather than promoting it. This dim-witted federal policy is preventing creation of something like half a million new well-paying jobs across America.
It may be too late for the Obama administration to do anything, but it is worth taking a look at the views of the current candidates. Trump is in favor of promoting natural gas and pushing the resulting economic growth. Clinton is vague in her views on the subject, but she has spoken out against fracking which is the technology that unlocked our huge reserves. Clinton has also spoken about continuing the Obama policies. As best as one can tell from the vague statements from Hillary, she will NOT promote the growth of the American natural gas industry.
On this issue, there is only one rational choice to make: Trump.
1. America is by far the world's largest repository of natural gas. The USA has something like a third of all the world's reserves of this fuel. We are the world's largest producer of natural gas. The USA is not about to be left at the mercy of foreign sources when it comes to this fuel.
2. Natural gas is by far the cleanest fossil fuel. Switching a power plant from coal to natural gas reduces the resulting pollution coming from the plant by roughly two thirds. Switching a truck from diesel fuel to natural gas reduces emissions by almost half.
3. Natural gas is currently the least expensive fuel and is likely to stay inexpensive for the foreseeable future. Coal prices are also low, but that is primarily because the government has been limiting the possible uses of coal to such a great extent. Oil prices are low at the moment, be even now, oil is still more expensive than natural gas.
4. America can export natural gas to the rest of the world and gain huge markets for our products. Literally millions of jobs can be created as the natural gas industry expands and affiliated jobs are created here. We have sufficient reserves of gas that producing more and exporting it to Europe or Asia will not raise prices here in a meaningful way. The USA wins because it gets the jobs and economic activity. Europe and Asia win because they get less expensive energy from a reliable source. The only losers are OPEC and Russia.
Right now, more and more trucks and buses should be switching from diesel to natural gas. The transformation is happening, but the federal government is slowing it rather than encouraging it. Right now, the export of natural gas should be booming, but the federal government is again slowing it rather than promoting it. This dim-witted federal policy is preventing creation of something like half a million new well-paying jobs across America.
It may be too late for the Obama administration to do anything, but it is worth taking a look at the views of the current candidates. Trump is in favor of promoting natural gas and pushing the resulting economic growth. Clinton is vague in her views on the subject, but she has spoken out against fracking which is the technology that unlocked our huge reserves. Clinton has also spoken about continuing the Obama policies. As best as one can tell from the vague statements from Hillary, she will NOT promote the growth of the American natural gas industry.
On this issue, there is only one rational choice to make: Trump.
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