The editors of the Houston Chronicle directed an editorial at President Obama this weekend in the hopes that he will implement the policies necessary for America to fully utilize its enormous natural gas reserves. The editors singled out seven factors that make natural gas such a timely fit:
Reliability: America’s natural gas is a domestic resource.
Environment: America’s natural gas is 50 percent cleaner than coal and will reduce greenhouse emissions.
National Security: America’s natural gas supply is not dependent on politically volatile regimes in Africa and the Middle East.
Balance of Trade: America’s natural gas will save the U.S. from importing billions of dollars of foreign oil.
Jobs, Jobs, Jobs: America’s natural gas reserves are so plentiful that developing them will create thousands of jobs in the exploration, extraction, marketing, transmission, and construction industries.
High Technology: America’s natural gas boom is technology driven, and as the Chronicle proudly points out, many of the advances that led to the shale boom were developed in Houston.
Compatibility with Sustainable Energy Goals: America’s natural gas offers an opportunity to use the savings brought by switching to this domestic energy source to pay our way to a sustainable energy future.
Read the complete editorial HERE.