2011年9月19日星期一

Coventry pipeline could benefit region

Last month, anti-drillers campaigned against a pipeline shipping Coventry gas to Bainbridge and Sidney customers. What's wrong with this picture?

It's local energy. It's cheaper and cleaner than currently imported fuels. It's sustainable for many decades to come. It creates and saves local jobs. One Sidney company tells us that the savings equal the salaries of 44 jobs. That's 44 jobs less likely to be shipped offshore. What's not to like?

Oh, I see. It's GAS from Chenango County! Want clean, cheap, reliable energy for upstate New York? You won't get it if the local anti-drillers have their way.

The old environmental mantra used to be, "Think globally. Act locally." Good idea! Here are some facts.

The United States imports 60 percent of its oil. Along with our European allies, we are dependent on some very nasty, unstable and unfriendly countries: petro-states such as Russia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Venezuela and Nigeria. As of last year, the proven reserves of these five countries were about 600 billion barrels. In comparison, the largest free-market energy company, Exxon Mobil, had 8 billion barrels of reserves.

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, or OPEC, determines the price of oil. We pay that price because we need the energy to drive our economy.

However, our dependence sucks money from our economy, undermines the dollar and often supports thugs, kleptocrats, mullahs and dictators.

Then, somewhere in the mid-1990s, technology evolved that literally opened the shales _ rocks rich in oil and gas. Shales are found worldwide, but they are particularly bountiful in the United States. The Marcellus and the other stacked plays in our Northeast constitute the second-largest known gas reserves outside of Qatar. Gas from our region will provide energy to our largest population centers for decades to come.Flossie was one of a group of four chickens in a zentai suits . In the U.S., production has grown from virtually nothing in 2000 to the current 10 billion cubic feet per day. Estimates of technically recoverable shale in North American have grown from 38 trillion cubic feet in 2003 to the current 1,An magic cube of him grinning through his illegal mustache is featured prominently in the lobby.,high risk merchant account,930 trillion cubic feet, with 860 trillion cubic feet in the United States alone. That's a lot of gas for our energy needs.

With domestic production serving our domestic market, gas previously designed for the U.S. is going to other countries. Already, shale development in the United States has unshackled the price of gas in Europe from the old indexed oil price ratio to a price determined by the spot market. In plain English: Russian oligarchs can no longer dictate the price of gas to a Belgian housewife. Now there's competition, and a free-market price. This price will further moderate worldwide as Polish, German, French, Australian, Indian and Chinese shale plays come online.

This is the game-changer _ multiple sources for a clean(er), cheap form of energy.

But that's only the beginning of the long-term geopolitical benefits. Our country will lessen its energy dependence on petro-thugs. We'll keep our money here instead of sending it to them. There will be a greater use of natural gas worldwide, with significant impact on meeting global environmental objectives. We'll dampen the prospects of a gas OPEC, or a single-state producer's stranglehold, like Russia had on Europe. We'll reduce Venezuela's ability to export its "Bolivarian Revolution," with its authoritarian dictator framework. We'll diminish the likelihood of Iran's use of energy diplomacy as a means to power and nuclear blackmail. We'll reduce U.S.-Chinese friction in competition for Mideast energy supplies. Globally, what's not to like?

Finally,This will leave your shoulders free to rotate in their oil painting supplies . aside from keeping American dollars at home to buy American energy, we will have an efficient, clean(er),Traditional China Porcelain tile claim to clean all the air in a room. reliable energy source underpinning our economy. This will bring good-paying, productive jobs and tax revenues to our nation, our state and our communities.

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