246
The ten recommendations given below have been discussed throughout the text.
They are brought together in this final section to consolidate an approach for dealing
with fracking, fossil fuel, renewable and sustainable energy, and climate disruption.
Implementing these recommendations and others like them will require a policy
commitment from the highest levels of government. If we attempt to rely on technology and economics alone to resolve the energy issues in the United States and
the world, we will fail. Period. If we do even less and continue with business as
usual, we will be going off a cliff in a few short decades. It is the responsibility of
every thinking voter in every nation to select political leaders at every level who will
recognize the danger, acknowledge the problems, and who are willing to stand up to
political lobbyists, big business, and deeply established ways of doing things in our
economy to make a change.
Fracking Has Some Risks, But Many of These Are Overblown Fracking does
not appear to pose any greater risk to the environment than other forms of fossil fuel
extraction, and in fact it is far less risky than Arctic drilling, deepwater offshore oil
production, or mountaintop removal coal mining. Fracking is nothing more than a
completion technology and people need to stop conflating it with all forms of oil
and gas production. There is no distinction between “fracked gas” and any other
source of natural gas, and labeling it as a particular kind of evil is a disservice to the
larger overall discussion that we need to be having about sustainable forms of
energy. Fracking technology is constantly advancing into better economics and
greater efficiency. The energy industry should be encouraged with incentives and
tax breaks to use greener chemicals and safer techniques, and reduce emissions.
Violations that lead to environmental contamination should be met with steep fines
and bans on production in a state. Fees for drilling permits should be raised steeply
to fund a robust and ever-watchful regulatory agency to keep operators on the
straight and narrow.
Banning Fracking Is a Bad Idea We desperately need natural gas as a bridge fuel
to get us away from the far more polluting use of coal and into more sustainable
forms of energy production. Seventy percent of our domestic natural gas is now
produced from fracked wells. A fracking ban will not stop GHG production; in fact
it will make it worse because the resulting shortages of natural gas will likely be
replaced by coal, which produces twice as much CO 2 per Btu of energy than natural
gas. Shortages of domestic petroleum will be made up by importing oil, with all of
the geopolitical risks that entails. Environmentalist fantasies about fracking bans
leading to the replacement of fossil fuels with wind and solar power are
unlikely because these overlook the economics and require utilities to abandon billions of dollars worth of existing infrastructure.
The Transition to Sustainable Energy Must Be Gradual and Measured It can
start by replacing the heat sources in thermal power plants that boil water to make
steam for turning turbines and running generators. The huge capital expense of
simply abandoning this existing electrical infrastructure in favor of solar farms and
12 Moving into the Energy Future
The ten recommendations given below have been discussed throughout the text.
They are brought together in this final section to consolidate an approach for dealing
with fracking, fossil fuel, renewable and sustainable energy, and climate disruption.
Implementing these recommendations and others like them will require a policy
commitment from the highest levels of government. If we attempt to rely on technology and economics alone to resolve the energy issues in the United States and
the world, we will fail. Period. If we do even less and continue with business as
usual, we will be going off a cliff in a few short decades. It is the responsibility of
every thinking voter in every nation to select political leaders at every level who will
recognize the danger, acknowledge the problems, and who are willing to stand up to
political lobbyists, big business, and deeply established ways of doing things in our
economy to make a change.
Fracking Has Some Risks, But Many of These Are Overblown Fracking does
not appear to pose any greater risk to the environment than other forms of fossil fuel
extraction, and in fact it is far less risky than Arctic drilling, deepwater offshore oil
production, or mountaintop removal coal mining. Fracking is nothing more than a
completion technology and people need to stop conflating it with all forms of oil
and gas production. There is no distinction between “fracked gas” and any other
source of natural gas, and labeling it as a particular kind of evil is a disservice to the
larger overall discussion that we need to be having about sustainable forms of
energy. Fracking technology is constantly advancing into better economics and
greater efficiency. The energy industry should be encouraged with incentives and
tax breaks to use greener chemicals and safer techniques, and reduce emissions.
Violations that lead to environmental contamination should be met with steep fines
and bans on production in a state. Fees for drilling permits should be raised steeply
to fund a robust and ever-watchful regulatory agency to keep operators on the
straight and narrow.
Banning Fracking Is a Bad Idea We desperately need natural gas as a bridge fuel
to get us away from the far more polluting use of coal and into more sustainable
forms of energy production. Seventy percent of our domestic natural gas is now
produced from fracked wells. A fracking ban will not stop GHG production; in fact
it will make it worse because the resulting shortages of natural gas will likely be
replaced by coal, which produces twice as much CO 2 per Btu of energy than natural
gas. Shortages of domestic petroleum will be made up by importing oil, with all of
the geopolitical risks that entails. Environmentalist fantasies about fracking bans
leading to the replacement of fossil fuels with wind and solar power are
unlikely because these overlook the economics and require utilities to abandon billions of dollars worth of existing infrastructure.
The Transition to Sustainable Energy Must Be Gradual and Measured It can
start by replacing the heat sources in thermal power plants that boil water to make
steam for turning turbines and running generators. The huge capital expense of
simply abandoning this existing electrical infrastructure in favor of solar farms and
12 Moving into the Energy Future