Natural Gas is good

America has large amounts of natural gas

“Drowning in it,” August 13, 2009, The Economist, http://www.economist.com/world/unitedstates/displaystory.cfm?

story_id=14222281

“I used to say we were awash in gas,” says Mr Hefner. “Now I say we’re drowning in it.” The big news is that in
June the Potential Gas Committee, a semi-official body, revised its estimates of America’s gas reserves, raising them
39% above its assessment in 2006. The biggest part of that boost comes from higher estimates of gas in shale
formations, which were formerly difficult and expensive to reach. Advances in horizontal drilling and the hydraulic
fracturing of rock have made it possible to get previously inaccessible gas out. Shale gas, according to the
committee, accounts for two-thirds of America’s technically recoverable reserves, enough to supply the country for
90 years.

Natural gas is cleaner than coal

“Drowning in it,” August 13, 2009, The Economist, http://www.economist.com/world/unitedstates/displaystory.cfm?

story_id=14222281

Gas emits about half as much carbon dioxide as coal per unit of energy produced. Putting a price on carbon dioxide,
as the cap-and-trade bill that passed the House in June would do, would make coal more expensive to burn and gas
relatively cheaper. This could cut carbon emissions in two ways.

Natural gas could replace coal in electricity production

“Drowning in it,” August 13, 2009, The Economist, http://www.economist.com/world/unitedstates/displaystory.cfm?

story_id=14222281

The biggest source of greenhouse-gas emissions is electricity generation. Coal, the cheapest fuel, currently produces
America’s baseload power: coal-fired plants run constantly to meet basic demand, with natural gas switched on
when demand is higher. But gas could play a bigger role: there is a third more gas-powered than coal-fired capacity
available. A reasonable carbon price would mean that gas plants would be switched on more often to replace coal.
And in the longer run carbon prices will rise under Waxman-Markey, as the House bill is known. This could make
gas the preferred fuel for baseload power—and make building old fashioned coal plants uneconomic.

Natural gas is clean

John Podesta (President of the Center for American Progress, and graduate of Georgetown University Law Center,
were he is currently a visiting professor of law) and Timothy E. Wirth (former U.S. senator from Colorado, former
undersecretary of state for global affairs, and is on the steering committee for the Energy Future Coalition), August
10, 2009, “Natural Gas: A Bridge Fuel for the 21st Century,” Center for American Progress,
http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2009/08/pdf/naturalgasmemo.pdf

Natural gas is “by the far the cleanest burning” fossil fuel, and produces slightly more than one-fifth of all U.S.
energy. Oil and coal combined comprise about two thirds of all energy consumption. Their combustion produces
substantially more global warming and other conventional pollution than natural gas. Combusting natural gas to
make electricity produces about half of the global warming pollution of coal, and one-third of petroleum burned in
cars. Given its domestic abundance and its lower pollutant levels, natural gas should play a larger role in our energy
mix.
Natural gas can be a bridge to a low-carbon economy

John Podesta (President of the Center for American Progress, and graduate of Georgetown University Law Center,
were he is currently a visiting professor of law) and Timothy E. Wirth (former U.S. senator from Colorado, former
undersecretary of state for global affairs, and is on the steering committee for the Energy Future Coalition), August
10, 2009, “Natural Gas: A Bridge Fuel for the 21st Century,” Center for American Progress,
http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2009/08/pdf/naturalgasmemo.pdf

Natural gas can serve as a bridge fuel to a low-carbon, sustainable energy future. In particular, natural gas can
provide the critical low-carbon “firming” or back-up fuel that can enable deep market penetration of both wind
power and concentrated solar thermal power. The marriage of gas and renewable energy in the form of hybrid wind-
gas and solargas plants addresses the issue of renewable intermittency, greatly enabling low-cost/low emissions
power generation.

Natural gas would facilitate economic growth

John Podesta (President of the Center for American Progress, and graduate of Georgetown University Law Center,
were he is currently a visiting professor of law) and Timothy E. Wirth (former U.S. senator from Colorado, former
undersecretary of state for global affairs, and is on the steering committee for the Energy Future Coalition), August
10, 2009, “Natural Gas: A Bridge Fuel for the 21st Century,” Center for American Progress,
http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2009/08/pdf/naturalgasmemo.pdf

Using clean domestic natural gas will also enhance our economy. Since it is produced in the United States, higher
gas demand will create more jobs, and using domestic gas in lieu of imported oil would reduce our trade imbalance,
keeping energy dollars at home instead of exporting oil dollars overseas. Gas could also be the basis for
development of new, clean-energy technologies such as wind-gas hybrid electricity plants, carbon capture and
storage, and natural gas transportation fuels. Such low-carbon technologies would find a market overseas. America
and the world’s needs for new jobs and new energy sources coincide with the emergence of a powerful wave of
clean-energy investment. More than $155 billion was invested in clean-energy technologies in 2008 alone and
investments are expected to triple in the next three to four years.