July 18, 2016

Anti-Pipeliners Favor Foreign Imports Over Domestic Energy

A new article published by Bloomberg Business paints a startling new picture of an anti-American energy campaign being waged under the guise of environmental stewardship. According to the article, activists in New England favor the region prolonging its dependence on foreign energy imports rather than investing in infrastructure necessary to link up with domestically produced resources.

As CEPI has previously highlighted, natural gas is one of the most efficient, clean-burning sources of energy available in today’s market. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), natural gas produces nearly half as much carbon dioxide as coal and has already contributed to a measurable decline in domestic carbon emissions.

By protesting the development of infrastructure capable of delivering this valuable resource, activists are settling for the status quo, which in many cases, means far dirtier coal- or oil-fired power plants.

“… New England, like other parts of the U.S., has a growing appetite for natural gas in homes and power plants, as dirtier fossil fuels like coal and oil are phased out. Gas-fired plants are providing more than half of the Northeast’s power supply this month, up from 15 percent in 2000.”

In the case of New England, environmentalists have sidelined affordable shale gas from Pennsylvania and Ohio in favor of costly foreign imports purely to avoid developing modern energy infrastructure. This dangerous and reckless agenda defies even the most basic economic principals at a direct expense to consumers. According to Bloomberg, New Englanders would collectively save over $2.5 billion in annual home heating and electric costs if they utilized domestic energy resources.

“It’s during New England winters that the argument becomes acute. When the polar vortex plunged half the country into an Arctic chill in 2014, prices everywhere surged — but nowhere as much as the Northeast.”

As underscored by LiUNA’s newly launched Clean Power Progress campaign, natural gas has and will continue to play a vital role in providing Americans with a reliable source of clean-burning, affordable energy. Investing in the pipeline infrastructure needed to move this valuable domestic resource is essential to ensuring that all Americans have access to the benefits of associated with national energy independence.