Natural Gas Suddenly En Vogue: What About Renewables?

It's been a pretty rough week for traditional energy titans here in the U.S. The coal debacle is well known. After the tragic West Virginia coal mine collapse earlier this month that killed dozens, coal executives were invited to speak before Congress this Wednesday to answer questions on topics ranging from mine safety to climate change. They didn't do so hot.

Prospects looked nearly as bleak for oil companies, which have long been targeted by clean energy enthusiasts who say that oil is dirty, dangerous, and keeps us dependent on foreign governments. To make matters worse, the U.S. Military announced recently that if surplus oil production disappears, we could face massive energy shortages by 2015 if the Department of Energy doesn't shift into gear.

While stressing that the report is not U.S. policy, the military warns of a variety of dangers that would accompany such a shortfall: "It would surely reduce the prospects for growth in both the developing and developed worlds. Such an economic slowdown would exacerbate other unresolved tension, push fragile and failing states further down the path toward collapse, and perhaps have serious economic impact on both China and India."

Oddly, when energy interests turn against coal and oil, they don't (yet) turn to renewables like wind and solar. Instead another non-renewable (though slightly more green) resource, natural gas, has emerged as America's most likely energy heir if reliance on coal and oil drops. ClimateWire reports that while the oil executives were being grilled on Capital Hill, former oil tycoon turned clean energy crusader T. Boone Pickens made the case for natural gas. Pointing out oil's negative effect on the economy, Pickens cautioned that in January alone, the country's trade deficit was more than $37 billion, 75 percent of which was spent on oil imports abroad. "As Americans we have to look at green jobs and a green economy, not as a 'feel-good' effort, but as a global war to protect American jobs," he said.

But to promote a green economy, why support natural gas instead of wind or solar energy? To understand, it's best to think of each energy source as a part of the American political system. Think of oil as one of the major parties and coal as the other. Every few years, the candidates battle for control, hoping to win lasting popular support. There may be better third-party candidates (wind and solar!), but even if people support their ideas, they're unlikely to throw their full support behind them because victory is seen as a naive long shot.

Natural gas is certainly an improvement over oil. But Pickens' claim that natural gas "creates a fraction of the greenhouse gases of gasoline" is unfortunately wrong. Treehugger points out that according to EPA data, natural gas still emits 75% the greenhouse gasses of oil. So moving from coal and oil to natural gas is a step in the right direction. But we won't achieve the drastic changed needed to turn our energy economy around until we put more faith into those third party renewable energy candidates.

Photo credit: Center for American Progress (Creative Commons)