America’s abundant reserves of shale gas have led many pundits to consider the possibilities associated with a new energy economy, yet as Monday Morning Associate Editor Kerri Shannon points out one of the biggest roadblocks hampering this opportunity has been the federal government’s lack of a plan.
The U.S. government’s lack of aggressive energy measures supporting natural gas is a growing frustration among energy experts and consumers.
This inactivity is highly perplexing particularly because our country’s immense reserves of this cleaner burning fuel can create opportunities to enhance national security, strengthen our economy, and better our environment.
But the country is in the lucky position of sitting on an abundance of natural gas reserves, and until the United States begins exporting liquefied natural gas, there will be a cheap domestic supply booming from regions like Marcellus [Shale]. If the United States starts shifting its main source of transportation fuel to the increasingly popular natural gas, it’ll be able to reduce its dependence on foreign oil, something many industry experts have been concerned about for decades.
As Shannon points out, there is in fact an alternative to government indecision. It’s called the Pickens Plan, and almost two million people support it, in part, because it emphasizes the importance of shifting to natural gas as a transportation fuel:
“Transportation has to lead the way – it accounts for two-thirds of our oil imports. No energy strategy can be effective unless it promotes the use of domestic natural gas as a transportation-fuel-alternative to foreign oil/diesel, and the focus has to be on America’s eight million heavy duty vehicles. The NAT GAS Act, a bipartisan bill proposed in both sides of Congress, would advance the use of natural gas as a transportation fuel.”
Read the entire post HERE.