Wrong, Mr. Tyrrell. Free markets, not subsidies, are the pathway to success for natural gas.
R. Emmett Tyrrell, Jr. writes in the Washington Times:
…The way to justify the Nat Gas Act is via national security. American presidents since Jimmy Carter have called for America to be energy independent. They wanted us to drill for energy, to develop wind and solar, to expand our nuclear potential. Well, all that is fine, but the major justification should be national security. We spend in the neighborhood of $700 billion a year on national security. We can spend a few billion more.
America is vulnerable to terrorists, Middle Eastern instability and unfriendly powers around the world. We have a kind of miracle that has been developed over the past few years, natural gas. By passing the Nat Gas Act now we can end these threats against us. We can become an energy exporter. The bill now has 180 co-sponsors in the House. Seventy-two are Republicans. This is one act of bipartisanship that can make a huge difference in our nation’s security. The time to act is now.
Check out JunkScience.com’s series on T. Boone Pickens rentseeking:
Agreed: http://priscillaking.blogspot.com/2012/03/does-america-need-natural-gas-act.html