Truth Squad: "Are There Really 100 Years Worth of Natural Gas Beneath the U.S.?"
Saul Loeb-Pool / Getty Images
President Obama Addresses The Nation During State Of The Union AddressPool / Getty Images
In last night’s State of the Union Address, President Obama said America has about a 100 year supply of untapped natural gas. But how is that calculated? Last month Chris Nelder wrote a piece for Slate that breaks it down. Nelder makes the case that there’s a lot more uncertainty about how much of that gas can be extracted and used to power our refridgerators. And questions the source of that 100-year figure.
“The claim of a 100-year supply originated with a report released in April 2011 by the Potential Gas Committee, an organization of petroleum engineers and geoscientists.Ā President and Chairman Larry Gring works with Third Day Energy LLC, a company based in Austin, Texas, that is engaged in acquiring and exploiting oil and gas properties along the Texas Gulf Coast.*Chairman of the Board Darrell Pierce is a vice president of DCP Midstream LLC, a natural-gas production, processing, and marketing company based in Denver. The report’s contributors are from the industry-supported Colorado School of Mines. In short, the Potential Gas Committee report is not an impartial assessment of resources.”
And just this week, the Energy Information Agency released it’s own updated estimates of shale gas reserves. In theĀ āAnnual Energy OutĀlook for 2012,” the EIA reduced their preĀviĀous estiĀmate of potenĀtial recovĀerĀable gas reserves in the U.S., primarily because of their overestimates within the Marcellus Shale. The new Marcellus projections have been cut by two-thirds.
The president had a lot to say about energy policy during the speech, including how shale development gives us hope for renewables.
“Our experience with shale gas shows us that the payoffs on these public investments donāt always come right away.Ā Some technologies donāt pan out; some companies fail.Ā But I will not walk away from the promise of clean energy.Ā I will not walk away from workers like Bryan.Ā I will not cede the wind or solar or battery industry to China or Germany because we refuse to make the same commitment here.Ā We have subsidized oil companies for a century.Ā Thatās long enough.Ā Itās time to end the taxpayer giveaways to an industry thatās rarely been more profitable, and double-down on a clean energy industry thatās never been more promising.Ā Ā Pass clean energy tax credits and create these jobs.”
Click hereĀ to read more on Obama’s remarks on offshore drilling, renewable energy, natural gas, oil subsidies, and energy efficiency.
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