Now Is The Time: Pass the NAT GAS Act
I've always said that the most important quality of a good leader is that you've got to be willing to make a decision. Too often, people fall victim to what I call the "ready-aim-aim-aim-aim" syndrome. Everything has got to be absolutely perfect. The truth is sometimes you've got to be willing to pull the trigger. Only afterward does it become apparent that the time was right.
Yesterday, I witnessed what leadership is all about firsthand. My good friends, Senators Harry Reid and Orrin Hatch, signed on as cosponsors of Senator Robert Menendez's new bill: the NAT GAS Act. This is one of the most important pieces of legislation to be introduced in the Senate over the last 40 years. It goes right to the heart of the question I've been asking since I launched the Pickens Plan a year ago on July 8:
When are we going to put in place the energy plan this country needs and deserves?
Now is the time.
The NAT GAS Act will extend and increase tax credits for natural gas vehicles and refueling. It will help encourage the development of natural gas vehicles, a much needed step for our beleaguered auto industry. NAT GAS will also save consumers thousands of dollars on fuel costs and protect our environment by utilizing cleaner burning natural gas.
This bill is the only way I know to quickly and effectively reduce our dependence on foreign oil. No other fuel can replace diesel and power a big semi or a garbage truck, including batteries. For too long, our dependence on foreign oil has been one of the leading factors influencing American foreign policy. If we can eliminate that issue by using our enormous domestic natural gas resources, I am confident that it will benefit our national security, our economy, and the environment.
As I have said many times before, natural gas is cleaner, cheaper, it's abundant, and it's American. That's why Senator Menendez's bill enjoys exceptional bipartisan support, starting at the top with Harry Reid and Orrin Hatch. The House version, which was introduced by Dan Boren, John Sullivan, and John Larson, now has a total of 71 cosponsors from both sides of the aisle. We're pulling together on this one. Not as Democrats. Not as Republicans. But as Americans.
For almost four decades, this country has been floundering without an energy plan. Is now the best time to put one in place? No. The best time to do that was back in the 1970s when we were importing a small fraction of our crude from overseas. But as these leaders are demonstrating, now is the right time.
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How does natural gas stack up on CO2 production?
How does it stack up as far as other carbon fuels?
I would appreciate links on either side of the issue to specifics, not persuasion pieces.
Second, how does it this one piece fit into a comprehensive energy policy? My recollection is that as a result of the oil crisis President Carter pursued reduced comsumption and alternative sources which were dismantled by the oil producers. Why is this particular aspect so urgent?
Finally, my family receives royalties for natrual gas underlying our farms, but I understood that it is used in oil production, by forcing the oil out of the ground. Is natural gas being used for oil production?
Nicolo: natural gas burning vehicles produce significanly less CO2: most say at least 25% less, plus 99% less particulate matter. We have oceans of natural gas in this country, and mass conversion of cars, trucks & buses to CNG (we have fleets of cars in our state that are CNG powered) would lower CO2 much more than Waxman Markey. It would also create jobs in the natural gas industry, in converting vehicles and in building pipelines for transmission of gas. We could reduce our imports of oil dramatically, possibly even to zero.
In my state, natural gas is sold independently of oil, and many wells are now being drilled just for the gas. Once upon a time, it was considered worthless and was just burned off.
But Congress won't do this, because they can't find a way to gain control of the energy industry that way, and they can't generate taxes that way. So instead, with Waxman Markey, they plan to destroy what's left of our domestic oil and gas business. There goes your check.
Join me in emailing Congress today to let them know you support taking immediate steps to reduce our dependency on foreign oil. TAKE ACTION: http://www
One year later, we still import too much oil. On July 8, 2008, oil prices were in the range of $140 a barrel, the economy was showing its first cracks of weakness and both major political parties had effectively chosen their nominees — yet no one was talking about the economic,…Read more: http://www
To learn more about this important legislation and use our action letter, please go to:
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Join me in emailing Congress today to let them know you support taking immediate steps to reduce our dependency on foreign oil. TAKE ACTION: http://www
Hopefully,
As we are a decade or more from algae-derived biodiesel in quantity, years from cellulosic ethanol or methanol practicality, and years of hard work from having a robust enough smart grid to handle widespread electrice battery vehicles,.
Mr. Pickens is right,... working his own angle,... but right.
Forget the internal combustion engine. The future is in electric vehicles. And get the trucks off the highways and back onto the rails where they belong.
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