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The politics of natural gas
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He would make a great Republican
One of the main reasons energy policy in the US is so poor and disorganized is that the public is genuinely disinterested in how their homes are powered as long as the bill is reasonable. A blasé attitude towards energy is a luxury that not many other countries can enjoy. Natural gas is being proposed as a stop-gap measure to replace oil as renewable energy markets develop. In other parts of the world, natural gas is shaping the political scene and affecting people’s lives, so average people take a great interest in where the energy comes from.
A year ago in early August, a war broke out between Russia and the small ex-Soviet Republic of Georgia. Out of all the reasons for the outbreak of hostilities, two major one stood out:
1.) Georgia is a country that now has a pro-Western government and is trying to radically break from its past of over 200 years of Russian dominance. The few elite in Moscow are constantly working to undermine the government in Tbilisi who run this tiny country in the Caucasus. Change is met with belligerence.
2.) The only natural gas pipeline running westward into Europe that is not controlled by Russia runs through Georgia. If the Russians knock out that pipeline, they would have total control on all of the gas that enters Europe.
Russia waged an actual war with Georgia over politics and gas. It has also waged economic “gas wars” with Ukraine since 2006 that has led to multiple shut offs in supply to the European Union. The longest shut off of natural gas to Europe was this past winter. Eighty percent of Russian gas passes through Ukraine to get to the European market. When Moscow turned off the taps, many people were left to shiver in places like Bulgaria and Serbia.
This hard lesson for Europeans forced them to look at the perils of energy dependence on external sources of energy (gas) from and unreliable supplier (Russia). Since Americans have not experienced such a drastic turn of events, they do not take seriously their own dependence on external sources of energy (oil) from unreliable suppliers (the Middle East). It will most likely take the average American consumer to experience a shut-off or a price spike to start caring. The saying “once bitten, twice shy” can be applied here.
While Europe relies on Russia for the bulk of its natural gas, America luckily can increase its production of domestic energy by tapping its own natural gas reserves. To avoid an emergency situation like what happened to the Europeans, an increase in domestic natural gas production would be a positive step to decrease dependence on imported energy. Environmental benefits due to natural gas being a cleaner burning fuel that oil and a crossover supplier to renewable energy has its merits.
American politicians on the right are not enthusiastic to energy policy change. Change is met with belligerence. They are the Russians of the American scenario and the progressive energy backers are the Georgians. The fight continues and the outcome is unclear.
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