‘Fact-free activist’ wrong about natural gas

Steve Rissing’s June 26 column, “Natural gas is cleaner than coal, but that’s not saying very much,” criticizing Congressman Troy Balderson for proposing the House recognize natural gas as a green and clean energy source quoted a line from “Promises” by Eric Clapton: “I’ve got a woman calling love hate.”

Clapton’s song also includes the line, “Keep on rowin’ away on a distant sea,” which is a perfect metaphor for the tired, fact-free activist position that natural gas is not a clean energy solution. This fear-mongering ignores the fact that natural gas helped the U.S. lower emissions more than any other nation over the past two decades.

As a net exporter of natural gas, our allies substitute this for higher carbon fuels abroad. Moreover, the lower carbon content makes carbon capture and storage easier; that’s useful as the world seeks deeper decarbonization.

Further, consider that Ohio’s carbon dioxide emissions fell by 20% even as the state’s natural gas output surged almost 3,000% over two decades, an analysis by Consumer Energy Alliance found.

As opposed to the author’s contention, even the U.S. EPA notes that methane emissions associated with natural gas and oil output declined by nearly a quarter from 1990-2018. Plus, oil and natural gas companies representing 70% of our onshore production are striving to reduce methane emissions in every major U.S. basin, too.

We hope Balderson receives bipartisan approval for his house resolution. It’s the right move for our environment and especially for consumers who are paying far too much because of wrongheaded energy policies.

Chris Ventura, Ohio State Director, Consumer Energy Alliance