Your Weekly Dose of

“Common Sense“ Energy News

Presented by:

The Empowerment Alliance

May 6th, 2022

Last week, The American Lung Association gave passing grades for air quality to counties in Appalachia America that expanded their natural gas production over the past decade.

Energy demand in America is rising with no sign of tapering off, so energy companies need to match that demand by increasing supply. Natural gas producers are doing that by stepping up production and trying to build more pipelines to get gas to the communities that need access to low-cost, clean energy sources.

The American Lung Association keeps track of air quality around those facilities. Here are some interesting stats about those counties with passing grades from the report:

• In Pennsylvania, Washington County is responsible for over 18 percent of the state’s production and saw a 17 percent increase in production during 2021.
• In Ohio, Belmont County has seen a 6,000 percent increase in production since 2013 and is the top producing county in the state.
• West Virginia is nationally in the top five for natural gas production. The top producing county in the state, Monongalia County, has received passing grades from ALA since 2013 and saw 15 percent growth in 2021.

Each of those and others in the study all received passing grades for air quality from one of America’s most trusted authorities on the subject.

Bottom line: Natural gas IS green. Natural gas IS clean. ALA is adding to the chorus of organizations that confirm this.

State leaders are facing strong public opposition to their heavy handed approach to banning natural gas access to residents. Residents in states with green-at-all-cost policies are finding steep increases in their bills stemming from the utilities adhering to those policies. Those residents are not taking the hits to their family income lightly.

Rather than promoting access to clean affordable energy sources, the green-at-all-costs supporters are trying to remove that option from citizens. In some cases after taking losses at the state level they have turned to local municipalities to enact the bans.

Elected leaders should expect to hear from citizens who don’t want to pay more for the same service just because someone wants to win a political talking point. More to the point, states can cement citizens’ ability to choose affordable energy by taking the opposite approach by banning the bans on access to natural gas.

Bottom line: Americans can’t afford more “Biden Bill” nonsense. Natural gas is an abundant and affordable solution and should not be banned as a way to help people afford the American dream.

In a move that should surprise no one, Russia weaponized their economic holdover states dependent on their natural resources for fuel energy.

Gazprom, Russia’s state-owned utility, cut off the flow of gas to Poland and Bulgaria last week. The state utility also said if any gas is siphoned by those two countries en route to other European recipients further down the pipeline, there would be even more severe cuts to the continent’s supply.

To put this in context, Poland gets 45% of its gas from Russia while Bulgaria was receiving 90% of gas from Russian sources. While both countries have claimed there will be no disruption to residential supply, this still leaves a massive gap in their national resources.

Russia is vacating its position as a top resource supplier to Europe. America should step up and fill this economic leadership void. America has the resources to do so. Increasing domestic production will increase Americans’ access to inexpensive fuel sources, give America the opportunity to help allies and further reduce Russia’s geopolitical economic status.

Bottom line: America wins when America leads. The world wins when America leads. Let’s be the leader the world needs us to be.

Underlined partly by the European ban on Russian oil, gas prices kept climbing this week to an average of $4.24/gallon. That’s a whopping 10 cents more per gallonthan we were paying last week.

American producers are already stepping up, with the U.S. Energy Information Administration predicting that domestic oil output will increase by an average of 800,000 barrels a day this year. But, we still need a better, more sensible approach that encourages—rather than punishes—increased and consistent domestic production. Stop gap measures like draining the SPR and begging OPEC for more oil, clearly aren’t going to cut it when it comes to bringing gas prices down for American families.

Hearing On Ag Budget: On Tuesday, May 10, the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies will hold a hearing on the FY2023 Department of Agriculture budget.

Hearing On Transportation Budget: On Tuesday, May 10, the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Departments of Transportation, and Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies will hold a hearing on the FY2023 Department of Transportation budget.

Hearing On Council on Environmental Quality: On Wednesday, May 11, the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee will hold an oversight hearing to examine the Council on Environmental Quality.

North American Electric Reliability Corporation Meetings: On Wednesday, May 11, and Thursday, May 12, the North American Electric Reliability Corporation will hold public meetings.

Hearing On Energy Budget: On Thursday, May 12, the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development, and Related Agencies will hold a hearing on the FY2023 budget request for the Department of Energy Science and Energy Programs.

COMMON SENSE QUOTE OF THE WEEK

“Suppliers in the U.S. and the rest of North America are shipping 81% more liquefied natural gas (#LNG) to Europe than 2021. It’s a moment to acknowledge the noble cause of safely developing U.S. resources for our own energy security—and that of our allies.”

-American Petroleum Institute President and CEO  Mike Sommers