America has enough natural gas to meet all our needs for the next 100 years. We should be using this vast natural resource to help provide electrical power, as feedstock for our chemical industry, and as a principal transportation fuel.
There is strong national interest in moving away from high-carbon fuels to non-carbon fuels. That will not happen overnight, but natural gas is the perfect solution for this transition period. It is the lowest cost carbon fossil fuel; we have huge reserves in the continental United States; and it is the most widely distributed proven, stable domestic energy source.
As we move toward more alternative sources of electrical energy, we have to deal with the fact that the wind does not always blow, nor does the sun always shine. Natural gas will play a critical role in keeping the grid stable; providing electricity during peak periods is much more efficient with natural gas because gas turbines can be turned on and off with relative ease.
We continue to import an unconscionable percentage of our oil needs. In June, we imported 374 million barrels at a cost of $24.7 billion. Putting aside our imports from Canada and Mexico, we have placed our economy, our environment and our national security into the hands of the leaders of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Angola, Nigeria and Venezuela. These are countries in unstable areas, and some of them do not have America’s best interests at heart.
Of all the oil we import, 70 percent is used for transportation, for the gasoline and diesel which powers our 250 million cars, light trucks and 6.5 million 18-wheelers.
On the climate side, Americans dump about 20 tons of carbon per person per year into the atmosphere. Most of that carbon waste stays in the atmosphere for 100 years or longer.
We are working hard to move to a non-carbon transportation system. Batteries and hydrogen fuel cells are the most likely candidates, but they are far from ready to deal with the scale of America’s rolling fleet.
There are about 10 million vehicles in the world operating on natural gas. Only about 146,000 of these are in the U.S. Natural gas is a proven, ready-to-roll technology.
Batteries will not power 18- wheelers. The only domestic fuel available to move America’s goods around and across the nation is natural gas, which, because it produces virtually no particulate emissions, has a huge environmental advantage over imported oil/diesel.
Recent studies have estimated that, because of advanced completion techniques, we have over 100 years of reserves of natural gas in the continental U.S., largely in the shale deposits under Texas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Appalachia.
A study completed by the Potential Gas Committee, a group of academics and industry specialists supported by the Colorado School of Mines, concluded that the energy contained in our natural gas reserves exceeds the energy contained in all the oil in Saudi Arabia.
AT&T, one of the largest commercial fleet operators in the country, recently announced it would be buying more than 8,000 new vehicles that operate on natural gas. It is estimated a fleet of trucks can go from one coast to the other with only 20 refueling stops.
The ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach are moving their trucks from diesel to natural gas to meet air quality standards. Using natural gas as a transportation fuel is gaining momentum. Companion bills in the U.S. House and Senate provide tax incentives to jump start the use of natural gas as a major transportation fuel.
No matter how you approach it, natural gas is crucial for America’s environmental, economic and national security future.
T. Boone Pickens is a featured guest at today’s New West Summit at the Colorado History Museum. Go to for more information.
