Obama's Natural Gas Solution
By Examiner Editorial
- 11/20/08
The North Slope of our 49th state has an abundance of frozen natural gas that could be recovered using existing technology and that could heat 100 million American homes for a decade, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. Palin says she would be happy to work with the Obama administration to develop this resource to meet the estimated 20 percent increase in demand for natural gas. Palin has already negotiated a $40 billion, 1,715-mile pipeline to deliver the gas to the lower 48 states. That means Democrats in the White House and Congress will be the lone obstacle between American consumers and 84.5 trillion cubic feet of cheap, clean-burning natural gas that can also buy the nation critical time to develop more renewable energy sources.
Earlier this year, researchers from Penn State and the State University of New York estimated that between 168 and 516 trillion cubic feet of natural gas – a mother lode five times the size of the Alaska deposit and about 14 times current U.S. production- is trapped in deep shale deposits under parts of New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Virginia and West Virginia. Geologists say gas trapped in the Marcellus shale could be recovered using horizontal drilling techniques. Unlike Palin, however, Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell, a Democrat, seems to be doing everything he can to prevent drilling companies from creating thousands of “green” jobs that Obama says will be a lynchpin of his national energy policy. Rendell is considering a new tax on natural gas and his environmental agency has created so many permitting delays and other regulatory obstacles that some drilling company executives are now seriously reconsidering their plans.
Will Obama take the Palin approach and develop new domestic energy resources, even if it means bucking the special interests in his own party? Or will he take the Rendell way, and throw up so many regulatory roadblocks that the clean-burning natural gas Americans need and want never makes it to their homes and businesses?
9 Comments
Reader Comments:
POSTED Nov 20, 2008
JB: "I live in Wayne County, Pennsylvania and the hunting clubs that surround me signed leases to drill with Chesapeake. Sometime in the not too distant future, there may be 13 well pads of up to five acres each of cleared forest; plus access roads and clearings for pipes and compressor stations and so forth. Each pad will be allowed to have up to four horizontal wells, bringing the total to 52 wells in the formerly forested slopes that go down to the Delaware River, a source of drinking water for 17 million people. This little picture I am drawing can occur all within a 2.4 square mile area. Natural gas may burn a bit more cleanly than oil, but the extraction process is a terrible polluter, and to massively drill in the Susquehanna and Delaware River Basins is insanity. Governor Rendell isn't doing too much, he isn't doing enough to protect Pennsylvania's citizens from this menace to our water and health."POSTED Nov 20, 2008
American Gas for All: "JB, with all due respect you're crazy. The extraction process is not a "terrible polluter" you fool. There's not been one case of contamination here or in Texas where they've been doing this for 20 years. The total footprint of a completed well is about the size of an office. The equivalent in terms of windmill farms is about 250 acres. Have your choice."POSTED Nov 20, 2008
honk: "Although natural gas looks like a solution to solve our energy needs domestically, there are costs that need to be examined first. If Pa's governor is raising flags because of water pollution, air pollution, noise abatement issues, he is not stopping it, but trying to regulate it. Regulation of the gas drilling protects the public. Unfortunately, the gas companies are not looking out for the public interest. They are looking out for their investors and their profit margins. This editorial would be approved by the gas companies."POSTED Nov 20, 2008
American Gas for All: "Why are gas companies a bad thing? Should we just continue fueling our vehicles from foreign countries - who I assure you are a whole lot worse than those awful oil and gas companies who provide us with a critical product, employee millions of Americans, and contribute to our economy and tax base. Maybe we should all just ride bikes? If gas companies mess something up they fix it. Because if they don't do a good job they'll lose money and the shareholders you reference will invest in someone else. Dummy"POSTED Nov 21, 2008
PipeDream: "Wow, are the facts in this article just flat-out wrong. The TransCanada deal is a bust unless TC gets production guarantees from Exxon, Conoco and BP, which they're not going to get because Conoco and BP are trying to develop their own pipeline. Meanwhile, Gov. Palin gave $500 million to TransCanada, who can do nothing but sit on the prospect of building a pipeline. Pipedreams. In fact, it was announced a few days ago that BP and Conoco submitted application to BLM. They're not going to build the pipeline if Palin keeps blowing the tax negotiations so stupidly and ineptly. It looks like she's played all the cards in her hand and hold none. All she holds is a ludicrous $500 million giveaway to TransCanada. For what?"POSTED Nov 21, 2008
Examiner Nostalgia: "Gas, grass or as- no one rides free "The old hippie slogan of the 60's""POSTED Dec 17, 2008
tomtom: "I live in Western Pa. With all the drilling going on here the finished product is barely noticeable. The Marcellus shale lies more than a mile down. Drilling has no effect on our water supply, no air pollution, Some noise while drilling but that is very temporary, the noise from windmills is forever, and Marcellus gas is rich in propane and protane as well. It also has the advantage of being very close to the great northeast market area. No need for very lengthy and costly international pipelines, existing pipelines and some new ones can be used. Where is the downside? The money is much needed in western Pa. and will be a boon to our economy. I wish Gov. Rendell would quit trying to steal our money and let us get on with drilling."POSTED Dec 19, 2008
Scottycameron: "I find it odd that the states that are so anti oil and natural gas are the states that require the most natural gas for their plants and home heating. I think states such as Texas and Oklahoma should place a hugh sur-charge on natural gas which is piped to these states since they consider their lands so pristine that drilling rigs are not allowed. Radical Environmental idiots."POSTED Dec 31, 2008
: "I work for one of the largest drilling operations in wyoming . I sit and laugh at half of these opinions of people who dont know jack about fracking or even the drilling process first of all we drill consistently over 14000 ft find me a water well half that deap then i will listen to your story of water pollution . Natural gas can be the enviromental sane way to power cars trucks heat homes and run power plants we are sitting on a very diverse and cheap resource ,riggs are only on a well for about 30 days . yes there are roads but pipes are under ground and when the well runs dry its all reclaimed down to the sage brush so its even better than logging"