When
people think of oil billionaire T. Boone Pickens these days, wind may be the
first thing that comes to mind. Pickens spent part of his fortune last year
promoting the notion that a shift toward wind power is key to American energy
independence.
But wind is just one element of the Pickens Plan. Its call for
tapping the nation's "abundant reserves of clean natural gas" doesn't
get nearly the attention it should. Pickens, in fact, embraces wind power in
part for its ability to transport natural gas.
Natural gas also is a central part of American Solutions' "Drill Here, Drill Now, Pay
Less" campaign. News coverage has tended to emphasize the call to open
more oil-rich U.S. territory to drilling for oil, but the goal of paying less
for energy will be achieved by drilling for natural gas, too.
There's a reason for that -- namely, as Pickens has noted,
that natural gas is clean and abundant. How abundant? Here's the answer from a
recent newspaper
column in Lafayette Parish, La.:
During the past two years, natural-gas
production increased by a total of 10 percent, and new discoveries expanded
proven reserves by 12.6 percent to 6.73 trillion cubic meters.
The outlook for natural-gas reserves is now
improving, not declining, due to the huge amounts of gas located in shale deposits
such as the Haynesville Shale field in northwest Louisiana.
A sound energy policy should maximize the
use of compressed natural gas in vehicles, lessening dependence on foreign oil
to meet those needs.
The writer dubbed natural gas "the champagne of the
hydrocarbons" and invited Congress and the Obama administration to drink a
tall glass of it instead of redirecting incentives for oil and gas exploration
toward solar and wind subsidies.
There's definitely a lot more natural gas to consume if
policymakers are interested in serving it. The Wall
Street Journal also reported on the huge Haynesville Shale last month.
"After an era of declining production," the Journal
wrote, "the U.S. is now swimming in natural gas." Swimming in the
champagne of hydrocarbons -- now that sounds like an idea Washington can get
behind.