Contrary to the
folk tales the gas companies spin, shale gas development is not about energy
independence, increased jobs, or protection from climate change – shale gas
development is about profits for the gas companies regardless of the harms or
costs to the United States of America and us, as citizens. It is important not to be fooled by the
rhetoric of the gas drilling industry.
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| Dominion Cove -- from their website. Not in our watershed. |
Currently there
are at least 15 applications for liquefied-natural-gas (LNG) export facilities in the U.S. pending
before the federal government.[1] These applications, along with already
approved exports, would have the capacity to move over 40 percent of the U.S.
annual production of natural gas to foreign countries.[2] The gas companies want the exports overseas
because they can sell the gas for more than 4 times the price as they can
capture here in the U.S[3]
and at present there is a glut of gas in this country and so unless the
industry sells it overseas they won’t get their immediate cash sale reward.
Expert reports
and data demonstrate that while LNG exports generate generous profits for the
gas drillers and export companies, all other sectors of our country’s economy are
in decline. In other words, LNG exports
only benefit the gas industry.
Similarly, LNG
exports, while creating some jobs in the gas industry, many temporary, creates
a net job loss effect for the country.
In fact, LNG exports could result in the net loss of as many as 270,000
jobs per year in our country.[4]
The Environmental Cost
It is almost
daily that new research emerges showing the harms of shale gas for our
communities, our country and our earth.
Among the most recent scientific findings is that as much as 9% of the
methane[5] --
one of the most potent greenhouse gases known to man -- produced while drilling
for gas is lost to the atmosphere. That
9% coupled with all the methane emitted during the transport of gas through
pipelines, storage and use of the gas means that shale gas is a more potent
contributor to climate change than any other fossil fuel – 21 to 33 times more
potent than carbon dioxide if you look over a 100 year period; if you look over
the next 20 years when it is the most crucial that we reduce damaging emissions
it is over 105 times more potent.[6]
The unparalleled
level of harm to drinking water, air quality, food supplies, and people’s
health that result from ongoing and increasing levels of drilling and fracking
for shale gas bring high price tags for the United States economy and taxpayers. Not only do our communities lose out on
life’s basic needs – air, water, food and health – but we as taxpayers have to
pay the upfront and long-term financial burden of these harms, including the
necessary clean up and health care costs.
The
deforestation, land compaction, wetlands destruction, and increased earthquake
potential inflicted by shale gas development means increased flooding and flood
ravaged homes and communities; it means increased erosion of public and private
lands; it means the fear and harm of an earthquake where it happens; it means
lost fishing, hunting, boating, birding and all the jobs they generate. And of course someone has to pay for all this
harm – that someone is you and me in the form of emergency services, taxes,
hazard mitigation, and more national debt.
Transforming our
country into one dependent on shale gas instead of oil and coal brings with it
a hefty price tag – by some estimates it will cost as much as $700 billion.[7] Recent
estimates from the United States Geological Survey of the volume of undiscovered
Marcellus Shale gas that may be recoverable is an average 84 trillion cubic
feet.[8] At the current U.S. consumption rate of 24 trillion
cubic feet per year[9], chasing after this gas,
and incurring all of the harm shale drilling and fracking brings, will only
give an additional 3 ½ years of supply.
Other estimates that include gas which is proved, probable and
recoverable calculate all U.S. natural gas as supporting only 11 to 21 years of
energy at this consumption rate.[10]
The timeline for infrastructure replacement gets further shortened as LNG
exports increase. Isn’t it just smarter
to pay this bill once? And put in place
the infrastructure needed for sustainable energy sources like solar, wind,
geothermal and so on?
Investing in the
transformation of our national energy focus to one that is based on drilled and
fracked shale gas also means that we are not investing in sustainable energy
technology. And so while the world will
be wisely racing ahead of the United States in developing the technology and
manufacturing facilities necessary to create and supply this permanent energy
source, the U.S. will be falling miserably behind. And in just a few short decades, when the
shale gas is gone, we will find ourselves more dependent than ever on foreign
sources of energy – this time the technology needed for a sustainable energy
supply.
The gas drilling
industry is not interested in energy independence, addressing climate change, growing
jobs or improving our economy; the gas drilling industry, including the
pipeline and export companies, are interested in growing their own
profits. We must not be fooled by the
rhetoric or well paid advertisements – when we rely on the facts, science and
reality it is clear, there is no place for LNG exports or the shale gas
development it supports. Sustainable
energy and increased efficiency must not be just our future, but our present as
well.
- Congress is deciding right now what to do about LNG exports. Write your congressional representative
today. Tell them you don’t want
them to support LNG exports because doing so hurts our economy, jobs, the
health of our kids, communities and environment, and prevents us from
becoming the leaders we should be in sustainable energy technology and
manufacturing.
Originally written by me, Maya van Rossum, the Delaware Riverkeeper, as guest blogger for Maria Rodale, CEO of Rodale, posted at http://www.mariasfarmcountrykitchen.com/.
[1]
See North American LNG Import/Export Facilities, Office of Energy
Projects. http://ferc.gov/industries/gas/indus-act/lng/LNG-proposed-potential.pdf
[2]
See North American LNG Import/Export Facilities, Office of Energy
Projects. http://ferc.gov/industries/gas/indus-act/lng/LNG-proposed-potential.pdf
& Natural Gas Consumption by End Use, Independent Statistics and
Analysis, U.S. Energy Information Administration,
http://www.eia.gov/dnav/ng/ng_cons_sum_dcu_nus_a.htm
[3]
Natural Gas Overview: World LNG Prices, http://www.ferc.gov/market-oversight/mkt-gas/overview/ngas-ovr-lng-wld-pr-est.pdf
[4] Will
LNG Exports Benefit the United States Economy, Synapse Energy Economics
Inc, January 23, 2013
[5]
Methane Leaks Erode Green Credentials of Natural Gas, Nature International
Weekly Journal of Science, Jan. 2, 2013.
See also R. Howarth, D Shindell, R. Santoro, A. Ingraffea, N. Phillips,
A Townsend-Small, Methane Emissions from Natural Gas Systems, Background
Paper Prepared for the National Climate Assessment, Reference number 2011-0003,
Feb. 25, 2012.
[6] R.
Howarth, D Shindell, R. Santoro, A. Ingraffea, N. Phillips, A Townsend-Small, Methane
Emissions from Natural Gas Systems, Background Paper Prepared for the
National Climate Assessment, Reference number 2011-0003, Feb. 25, 2012; R.W.
Howarth, R. Santoro, A. Ingraffea, Methane and the greenhouse-gas footprint
of natural gas from shale formations, Climatic Change, June 2011, Volume 106, Issue 4,
pp 679-690.
[7]
The Facts on Natural Gas, An Energy Policy Based on Natural Gas Would Leave
Us Running on Empty, Water Defense, http://waterdefense.org/content/facts-natural-gas
[8]
U.S. Geological Survey, USGS Releases New Assessment of Gas Resources in the
Marcellus Shale, Appalachian Basin, Press Release dated 8/23/2011.
[9] Natural
Gas Consumption by End Use, Independent Statistics and Analysis, U.S.
Energy Information Administration,
http://www.eia.gov/dnav/ng/ng_cons_sum_dcu_nus_a.htm
[10]
“What the Frack? Is there really 100 years’ worth of natural gas beneath the
United States?” by Chris Nelder. Dec 29,
2011. See also “Top Three Reasons Cheap
Natural Gas Won’t Kill Renewable Energy”, By Stephen Lacey, Feb 21, 2012.
