Let me start by saying that I am enthusiastically in favor of using hydraulic fracturing to build a robust domestic energy program. Until I saw this map, however, I never realized the huge potential in the United States:
My own state of Michigan is literally covered by the Michigan Basin and the Devonian aged Antrim shale deposits.
This past weekend, the Wall Street Journal published an article about the benefits to all Americans, but most notably to those living in poverty by slashing the cost of energy, a major part of every home budget. That article is behind a pay wall, but a version of that article is available at WSJ Online.
A new study by the Colorado-based energy broker Mercator Energy quantifies the multibillion-dollar annual savings to American households through lower utility bills from the fall in natural gas prices.
From 2003-08, shortly before the fracking revolution took hold, the price of natural gas averaged about $7.20 per million BTUs. By 2012 after new drilling operations exploded across the U.S.—from West Texas to Pennsylvania to North Dakota—the increase in natural gas production had slashed the price to $2.80 per million BTUs.
Mercator examined Department of Energy data on natural gas usage to find out how this 61% price decline translated into lower home-heating and electricity bills. According to the federal Energy Information Administration, American households use about 7.4 billion MMBTUs for home heating and residential electricity each year.
Thanks to the lower price for natural gas, families saved roughly $32.5 billion in 2012. (That’s 7.4 billion MMBTUs of residential use of natural gas times the $4.40 reduction in price.) The windfall to all U.S. natural gas consumers—industrial and residential—was closer to $110 billion. This is greater than the annual income of all of the residents in 14 states in 2011.
Even though the benefits to American consumers are obvious, “green” organizations, such as Sierra Club, oppose hydraulic fracturing through lawsuits and propaganda. It’s a case of the affluent greenies – people like Matt Damon – opposing efforts that will ease the lives of the poor in this country. Can this be true? I thought the progressives are all about helping the poor?
Yes, it’s true. They stop at nothing – including exaggeration and outright lies – to promote their agenda. Josh Fox’s Gasland and Gasland 2 are two examples. See the myths debunked, Here.
Then there is Matt Damon’s Promised Land, discussed at Pundit Wire:
Why then are the environmentalists, of all people, so set on spoiling the party? Weren’t they telling us not so long ago that natural gas was the perfect “bridge fuel” to America’s energy future? The hysterical claims that fracking will pollute the groundwater are just that – hysteria. Fracking typically occurs at depths of 10,000 feet deep or more, far below drinking water wells, which are normally less than 500 feet down. Fracking has been used in various forms since the late 1940s, with no evidence that it harms the environment.
The real beef that environmentalists have with fracking is that it will give us an abundant supply of cheap domestic natural gas. That will make renewable sources of energy, like wind and solar power, even less economically competitive than they are today. In other words, environmentalists were all for natural gas when we had to import it from the Persian Gulf, because the costs involved made renewables competitive with gas. But a hundred years’ supply of cheap domestic natural gas? Perish the thought!
By the way,
much of the financing for Matt Damon’s anti-fracking movie came from a company that is wholly owned by the United Arab Emirates. The UAE is a major exporter of liquefied natural gas. If the U.S. develops its enormous reserves of cheap shale gas through fracking, it means that we will not only stop buying gas from Persian Gulf, we will be exporting gas ourselves and undercutting the UAE.
I encourage each of you to do your own study of this subject, and urge your Representatives and Senators to support the use of domestic energy supplies.
One alternative view is FrackNation. I was a Kickstarter contributor, and have viewed the film. I recommend it highly.
FrackNation – An Alternative View
In closing, I raise my glass to Houston businessman George P. Mitchell, who developed a new technique for hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, that has enabled us to release natural gas trapped deep within underground rock formations. He died less than two months ago, July 26, 2013, at the age of 94, proving that we old folks still have an opportunity to make a mark in the world. Bravo, Mr. Mitchell! He was a patriot who served his country, lived the American Dream and, as if the contributions he made through business were not enough, used his wealth for many philanthropic purposes. George P. Mitchell: A Visionary Life.
