We’re getting Back to Basics again today as we explore TEA’s guiding principle: We believe there are four pillars to every American’s energy birthright, and it is our obligation to ensure every citizen benefits from America’s vast natural resources.

The third of those four pillars is: Abundant Energy for Our Future.

Clean and affordable energy is an important and worthy goal. But, those factors don’t mean anything if our energy sources aren’t reliable—both in the short and long term. Power outages during the intense heat of summer or the freezing temperatures of winter can literally create life or death situations.

We can’t build a common-sense energy future on unproven and intermittent energy sources like wind and solar, without also including abundant and reliable energy like American natural gas.

• The U.S. has enough natural gas to power the nation for more than a century—and the potential for even more.
• 43% of U.S. electricity generation comes from natural gas. Only 14% comes from wind and solar energy
• From 2004 to 2019, natural gas reserves in the U.S. increased more than 148 percent.
• Only 1 in 650 customers are expected to experience a natural gas outage in any given year. Electric distribution systems have an average of one outage per year per customer.

We must ensure that clean energy is also affordable and reliable. Without those factors, “clean energy” is a nonstarter, and dangerous to our health and economy. Natural gas is the best energy source that brings these factors together.

Natural gas is abundant and available when need it most. And, as we’ve said again and again, America already has a cleaner environment and lowered emissions BECAUSE of increased use of natural gas. With natural gas, we can build a sustainable and clean energy future without sacrificing our health, safety and productivity.

Check out more about the basics of TEA’s common sense energy movement.