Natural Gas Production : Less Gov/Envro Control

Natural gas has a bright future if only they can develop without interference by governmental agencies that want control. These agencies want to be able to not only control the extraction of the product, but also direct where the profits are redistributed, that is, to donors and supports of their reelection efforts. Politicians want control. Politicians want a share of the profits but do nothing to earn it.

In a nut shell, this is the very basis of the problem that we face today in this country. Politicians, but to be sure not all politicians, there is some hope here, and their ilk, want to control everything that is associated with wealth production as a means to get and keep power. They will do what ever it takes to accomplish this. It boils down to the ' means justifying the ends'.

It is therefore imperative we know who we are electing next November to bring us back from the nightmare we face now of financial ruin. Energy production of all kinds, without subsides, is a great step in the right direction.

Natural Gas Important to America's Energy Future
Source: Nicolas Loris, "Natural Gas Policy: Access, Not Over regulation and Subsidies," Heritage Foundation, September 21, 2011.

The need for plentiful, affordable energy, as well as a political interest in reducing greenhouse gas emissions and dependence on foreign oil has pushed natural gas to the forefront of U.S. energy policy. Unfortunately, some policymakers are trying to promote natural gas with subsidies for natural-gas-powered vehicles and infrastructure. Others are pushing for more regulation due to environmental concerns over a critical part of the gas-extraction process, hydraulic fracturing.

The reality, however, is that hydraulic fracturing is a proven process that should not be subject to overly burdensome regulations. All energy policies, including those for natural gas, should focus on increasing access, opening markets and ensuring safe operations -- not unreasonably increasing regulations or subsidizing technologies to force them into the marketplace prematurely, says Nicolas Loris, a policy analyst with the Heritage Foundation.

The possibilities for natural gas to be implemented in the American economy are significant and far-reaching:

Natural gas is a major source of America's electricity generation, providing 23 percent today.
The United States consumed 24.1 trillion cubic feet of natural gas in 2010.
At current consumption rates, it has been estimated that the United States has 92 years' worth of natural gas.

However, environmental regulation and market manipulation can limit the potential of this valuable resource and reduce its usefulness. Environmentalists have focused their attacks on hydraulic fracturing (fracking) -- a process by which trapped oil and natural gas are freed from shale formations. Their fears are unfounded.

In the rare events of unwanted environmental outcomes, they were the result of poor well construction or problems with the concrete and steel casings around the well bore. These problems are not a result of the fracking process itself.

Furthermore, market manipulation through tax credits and subsidies, though well-intentioned, will hurt the proliferation of natural gas applications in the long run. For example, the bipartisan New Alternative Transportation to Give Americans Solutions Act, which subsidizes natural gas vehicles, thereby selects them as a winner at the expense of all the other applications for natural gas.

Both of these separate barriers to natural gas application, one unfounded and oversubscribed and the other well-intentioned but detrimental, serve to derail the use of natural gas in the long run.