There\u2019s so much competition among U.S. energy-producing industries, the speaker says, that the natural gas industry is trying to kill the coal industry.<\/p>\n
The speaker is Myron Ebell, Director of the Center of Energy and Environment at the Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI). \u00a0As the name suggestions, this libertarian-leaning organization advocates for unfettered free markets.\u00a0 \u00a0His topic is overly burdensome regulations.\u00a0 Today he\u2019s focusing on issues that affect New Mexico directly.<\/p>\n
Because of natural gas fracking (hydraulic fracturing, the process by which natural gas is extracted from underground rock), U.S. energy production is way up, and the U.S. can expect to be a net energy producer, he says.\u00a0 The price of natural gas is low, so the gas people started the war on coal, and, he says, this has helped the Obama administration cover up the cost effects of environmental regulations.\u00a0 He cites a 2011 survey by the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, in which the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is blamed most of all regulators for interfering with business; according to this survey, about half of all complaints are against this one agency. \u00a0(So EPA has become the agency Americans love to hate, I\u2019m thinking.)<\/p>\n
Environmentalists are litigating, he said, to stop the export of coal.\u00a0 Among other methods, they are blocking construction of ports and rail lines.<\/p>\n
Maybe, I surmise, they are doing that because air pollution travels on the wind to the far ends of the planet.\u00a0 Burning coal anywhere affects everyone everywhere \u2013 as shown by studies documenting that dust from China routinely crosses the Pacific to affect the air in the western U.S.\u00a0 \u00a0New Mexicans know the eternal argument about coal: it\u2019s an important industry that produces good-paying jobs where jobs are otherwise hard to find, but it\u2019s dirty.\u00a0 Like uranium mining back in the boom days, it brings economic benefit but at a steep price \u2013 environmental degradation, water pollution in a desert, health effects on those who live close to the smokestacks.<\/p>\n
No fan of renewable energy mandates, Ebell says windmills cause air pollution.\u00a0 When the wind is not blowing, backup power sources are necessary, usually old reliable fossil fuels.\u00a0 Ebell says that when the furnaces are fired up intermittently, they are less efficient than if they are running constantly and therefore create more pollution.\u00a0 He forgot to mention the option of storing wind and solar power, technology still in development and perhaps a reason to continue subsidizing these industries.<\/p>\n
Oil producers are making good money because of healthy competition, he said, but one problem for domestic consumption is the requirement to include ethanol.\u00a0 Because of this, he said, oil producers prefer to sell their product overseas.\u00a0 I agree with his point:\u00a0 evidence is growing about serious unintended side effects of corn-based ethanol, such as increases in the costs of food.<\/p>\n
Ebell predicts fracking will not be stopped by environmental concerns but will be regulated, and the critical question for the industry is whether the regulations will be under the Clean Water Act or the Safe Drinking Water Act; the latter is significantly more burdensome than the former, he says.\u00a0 For me a critical question is not just what\u2019s left in the water after fracking, but how much water is left, period.<\/p>\n
We want New Mexico to prosper, and we know the potential benefits of ending\u00a0 dependence on foreign oil.\u00a0 But I\u2019m always concerned when a policy analyst uses a conveniently limited set of facts to justify any policy position.\u00a0 In the real world,where everything is related to everything else, economic benefits can be undermined by unintended consequences. \u00a0One reason for regulations is to slow down the wholesale exploitation of natural resources while neutral parties attempt to gather facts.<\/p>\n
Triple Spaced Again, \u00a9 New Mexico News Services 2013<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
There\u2019s so much competition among U.S. energy-producing industries, the speaker says, that the natural gas industry is trying to kill the coal industry. The speaker is Myron Ebell, Director of the Center of Energy and Environment at the Competitive Enterprise … Continue reading