Last week, we introduced you to TEA’s Path To America’s Common Sense Energy Agenda, and now we would like to explore the first step in that path: Recognize natural gas is green.

And why does it matter if we recognize that natural gas is green energy? American natural gas is affordable, clean, abundant, and reliable energy that improves the environment while securing American energy independence. It is the green bridge to a future of alternative sources of affordable, clean, and reliable energy.

Here are the real facts behind why the U.S. has already successfully improved our environment—while growing our economy and making energy more affordable for everyday Americans—because of natural gas:

• The U.S. is a world leader in lowering carbon emissions, largely because of increased use of natural gas for electricity generation. In 2017, the surge of natural gas for power generation helped the sector reach a 30-year low for carbon dioxide emissions.

• The U.S. is enjoying its best air quality in generations. Since 1970, combined emissions of key pollutants have dropped by 78 percent in the U.S., at the same time our economy has grown.