Boosting the greedy pockets of the industry while reducing our reserves and increasing local pollution.

WashingtonPost.com
By Editorial Board
March 14th 2012


Boosting the economy through natural gas exports

IN AN OTHERWISE gloomy economic time for the United States, the boom in natural-gas production has been a dazzling bright spot. Thanks in large part to expanded production of previously inaccessible shale gas, the United States has passed Russia as the world’s largest gas producer, with an output of more than 23 trillion cubic feet in 2011. As the price of natural gas has plummeted, consumers have benefited from lower electricity rates, the cost of manufacturing in the United States has gone down, and thousands of jobs have been created.

As recently as 2005, many experts thought that the United States would need more liquefied natural gas (LNG) imports. Now, the U.S. industry is gearing up to export gas, including LNG. The Energy Department recently approved Cheniere Energy’s plan to export 2.2 billion cubic feet a day of LNG from a facility in Louisiana that was originally intended to take in imports. The department is considering applications from seven other companies. If the Energy Department approves them all, the United States would be capable of exporting a quantity of gas equal to almost a fifth of current consumption.

That prospect has some people worried. Environmental groups such as the Sierra Club fear that increased “fracking” for shale gas would harm groundwater. But most of the pushback comes from certain segments of the business community that fear that diverting U.S. gas into world markets would raise prices for everyone from steel companies to electric utilities. Rep. Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) has proposed a bill that would prohibit any new LNG export facilities until 2025.

Continue reading...