Bank bill might be the way out of energy glut
Never underestimate the power of Texas ingenuity. Just a few years ago, the country was in the throes of an impending energy crisis. Oil and gasoline prices were surging, natural gas prices were at an all-time high, and consumers around the country, already hurting from the Great Recession, were feeling the heat in their summer energy bills and at the pump.
But technological advancements and smart business investments made previously inaccessible reservoirs of oil and natural gas, like the Barnett Shale and Eagle Ford Shale, developable for the first time — ending the energy crisis. This fracking revolution helped propel Texas through the Great Recession and to this day provides hundreds of thousands of high-paying jobs that improve our communities and ensure our energy independence.
Now, however, Texas energy companies face the opposite problem — a glut of this once expensive commodity.
In the United States, natural gas has transformed the energy landscape, becoming cheaper and far better for the environment than coal. Since it is so efficient and our reserves so great the gas cannot be effectively utilized, sometimes forcing producers to burn off excess. Rather than let it go to waste, we need another burst of Texan ingenuity and our neighbor to the South may be the perfect solution to our problem.
In consideration of the NAFTA agreement, since 1993 the United States and Mexico have jointly funded an institution known as the North American Development Bank with the sole mission of helping border communities invest in their infrastructure. Through years of difficult work the bank has helped communities develop and finance critical infrastructure relating to water, solid waste, street paving and other quality of life improvements in border communities.
The Bank does all this while being incredibly cost-efficient for taxpayers. They’ve taken $400 million in capital and leveraged that into $7.1 billion in actual infrastructure.
President Trump and his Administration plan to spend $1 trillion on infrastructure over the next decade. Based on its record, the Texas Association of Business believes that the NADBank could be a model for infrastructure development across the nation and could help Texas energy companies provide more jobs.
Along the border many communities are still reliant on old coal and biomassfueled power plants, and homes in the region do not have access to gas lines, instead relying on less efficient, more expensive means to heat their homes and cook their food. If the NADBank was expanded, those areas could receive financing to help develop and mature their energy infrastructure, helping families and Texas businesses.
U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, as well as U.S. Reps. Henry Cuellar and Will Hurd, recognize these problems and have proposed a legislative solution. Their bill would authorize and expand the North American Development Bank’s ability to invest in critical infrastructure in the region, specifically investments in clean-burning natural gas power plants and expansion of residential gas connections, providing a market for Texas’ excess natural gas.
The Texas Association of Business and its NAFTA focused Texas-Mexico Trade Coalition believe that more investment in the NADBank could spur additional border infrastructure development across the state and the nation, and could help Texas energy companies provide more jobs.