The Left Still Does Not Understand Where Natural Gas Comes From
Conn Carroll /
DENVER – It’s not just Nancy. This Sunday on Meet the Press Speaker Nancy Pelosi defended her personal investment in T. Boone Pickens energy plan telling Tom Brokaw: “I’m, I’m, I’m investing in something I believe in. I believe in natural gas as a clean, cheap alternative to fossil fuels.” The Pickens plan is very popular among progressives here at The Big Tent. On the main stage now is a panel titled “Faces from the Front: Western Perspectives on the Drilling Boom” and all the speakers are big fans of the Pickens plan. The part the left loves about the plan is Pickens call for enough wind turbines to produce 20% of America’s electricity.
But this isn’t the only part of Pickens plan. Once wind is contributing 20% of U.S. electricity, Pickens wants to take natural gas power plants off the grid and use natural gas, instead of oil, to power American cars. Pickens writes:
Natural gas is our country’s second largest energy resource and a vital component of our energy supply. 98% of the natural gas used in the United States is from North America. But 70% of our oil is purchased from foreign nations.
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Domestic natural gas reserves are twice that of petroleum. And new discoveries of natural gas and ongoing development of renewable biogas are continually adding to existing reserves.
Here is where the left completely departs from reality. While the panel supported the Pickens plan, they whole reason they were on stage was to criticize “this administration’s ‘drill everywhere’ policies.” Problem is natural gas is not an “alternative to fossil fuels.” As this Energy Information Administration Kids Page explains, natural gas has to be drilled from the ground just like oil.
If the left is serious about transitioning our domestic auto fleet to natural gas, they are going to need to get that natural gas from somewhere. In other words, they are going to need a ‘drill everywhere’ policy.