The American Spectator

p> NATURAL GAS br> Re: Happy Feder’s On the Edge Over the Front : /p>

Allow me to condense “On the Edge Over the Front” to a faster read: Not in my backyard.

p>You’re welcome. And if the existence of Feder’s god hinges on the preservation of a particular stretch of scenery, well, there’s always paganism. br> — Jim Moore br> Panama City, Florida /p>

It may surprise the author to find out that most people that remain involved in the domestic oil and gas exploration and production industry are both political conservatives and environmental conservationists. They are also free market capitalists, the costs and benefits of being such include compensating affected landowners and subsurface mineral owners with payments up front and out of the well production.

I would suggest that Mr. Feder would be decidedly un-Happy if he were to find himself unable to heat his home with natural gas, propane or electricity in a winter in the future. I know I would be. In part because large expanses of the West are excluded from exploration, domestic natural gas production is in a flat-to-declining state. Exploration and production of natural gas is a low impact operation. The “80 foot drilling towers” (we call ‘em drilling rigs) are only present for the time it takes to drill and complete the well. They are truck portable and are moved off as soon as the work is done. What is left behind is a much shorter (3 to 15 feet tall) assembly of valves that controls the gas flowing from the well, a tank or two for produced liquids and a small diameter pipeline to send the natural gas toward the consumer’s electrical generator or home furnace. All of the production equipment on the well pad is usually painted (“BLM beige” or an alternate required color) to blend in with the surroundings as much as possible.

p>As for estimates of gas reserves in the Front area, unfortunately they cannot be known without drilling. By locking this area away, the country may be missing out on the estimated small volume of gas or something much larger. That’s something to remember this winter as the temperature inside your house drops a degree or two, the furnace automatically kicks on and the house is filled with warmth. That natural gas has to come from somewhere.