OPINION:
Among the great myths of recent years, one stands out in particular: that the world is undergoing a “great energy transition.” In fact, the world is undergoing a dramatic energy transition. But it is not the one that progressives want.
Despite hundreds of billions of taxpayer dollars being spent on wind and solar energy, less than 10% of our energy comes from green sources. Nothing has changed in the last two decades. The more the government spends, the less we get per taxpayer dollar. That is the exact definition of a falling stock.
The real energy transition is moving towards natural gas. A few weeks ago, the price of natural gas fell below 2 million barrels per year (mmBtu), which, adjusted for inflation, is the lowest energy price in 20 years and probably since the beginning of history. Just 20 years ago, the real price was four times higher.
As an experiment, I went to the supermarket to find out what a 16-ounce bottle of Evian water costs. The price I saw was $2.69, but it can go up to $3. This means that natural gas is now cheaper than water.
This natural gas revolution is due to modern drilling technologies, including horizontal drilling and fracking. This technology is getting better and better and will keep the price low for decades to come. The rate at which drilling technology is improving far exceeds the rate of depletion. In other words, America’s natural gas supply is essentially unlimited – a bottomless well.
Natural gas now has all the qualities of a miracle fuel. It is abundant, made in America, burns cleanly (using natural gas reduces carbon dioxide emissions), is reliable and cheap. The US has natural gas supplies for at least 200 years – and probably much longer. We are not going to run out. Chris Wright, CEO of Liberty Energy in Denver and one of the leading experts on drilling technology, says: “We are finding more and more natural gas as drilling technologies improve.”
Environmentalists should celebrate the natural gas revolution: It is by far the most important reason that carbon dioxide emissions in the United States have dropped dramatically and our air is cleaner today than at any time in the last 100 years. At the same time, we have discovered that windmills and solar panels are far from the clean energy we had hoped for. We have graveyards of decommissioned wind turbines made of toxic plastic and steel that must be buried in landfills or dumped in the ocean. Windmills use 4,000 times as much plastic as all the plastic straws in the world.
As we increasingly switch to electric and hybrid vehicles, natural gas is the obvious source of power for the batteries. In other words, natural gas can be used for all of America’s energy needs – including transportation.
Much of the natural gas reserves in the United States lie on federal land. President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris have halted the leasing permits needed to find the next giant oil and gas deposits. Given that we have around $50 trillion worth of oil, gas and minerals in the Western states, Unleash Prosperity estimates that the U.S. government could generate well over $1 trillion in revenue from leases and other taxes by drilling and mining these resources.
So why is the climate industrial complex against natural gas when it (along with nuclear) is the long-term solution to the world’s energy needs? Instead, they are waging a war against natural gas.
Natural gas is apparently being penalized because it is too cheap and too plentiful. Why use natural gas when you can use expensive and unreliable wind power? Progressives have a pathological fear of gas because they backed the wrong horse and foolishly invested hundreds of billions of dollars of their own and taxpayer money in these unproductive technologies.
The only thing holding back our borderless natural gas future is the government. We need permits for more LNG terminals, drilling leases and pipelines so we can transport our natural gas resources across the country and export them around the world.
Donald Trump is for all of that. Mrs Harris is openly against fracking and wants to ban it. Can you think of anything more stupid?
• Stephen Moore is a visiting fellow at the Heritage Foundation and co-founder of Unleash Prosperity.
