WASHINGTON — The other day the estimable Wall Street
Journal editorial board took issue with the equally estimable
Boone Pickens, the legendary oilman, over the Nat Gas Act. The
Journal
argued with its customary lucidity that Pickens’ idea of
subsidizing natural gas, even for a short period, was ill-advised.
To my mind the Journal left one argument out, to wit:
national security.
The Journal argued that natural gas could be
supplied according to free-market practices, presenting clean and
cheap energy even to those behemoth 18-wheel semis that carry their
loads across America. It argued that talk of energy independence
had led to numerous boondoggles for years. Ethanol had been tried
for 30 years and cost $40 billion, and still is costing us. It
argued that wind and solar had cost huge amounts and contributed
mostly to boondoggles or Boone-Doggles, as it headlined its piece.
It argued that no subsidies had been necessary for Henry Ford to
build the first Model T, nor were subsidies necessary to put gas
stations across America for servicing the Model Ts.
Yes, well, let’s stop right there. America existed in the
first part of the 20th century in an entirely different world than
exists today. There were no terrorists capable of killing us. Oil
came mostly from Texas or Oklahoma, much friendlier and more stable
places than the Middle East or Venezuela or Russia.
We now import some 70 percent of our oil. We are at the
mercy of conditions that are usually out of our control. If we were
to have natural gas fueling our 18-wheelers, we would be back in
control. Actually, we could resume shipping energy abroad. In
recent years we have found natural gas in abundance right here in
America. Through technological developments such as hydraulic
fracturing we have unlocked more energy than exists in all of Saudi
Arabia. Let Iran or a gang of terrorists close down the Strait of
Hormuz. We are still secure.
The Nat Gas Act now pending before Congress will extend
and increase tax credits for natural gas and for fueling. The key
clause calls for the orderly replacement of diesel-powered
18-wheeler semis and other heavy-duty vehicles with natural gas
over a five to seven year period. It also gives tax incentives to
truck-stop owners to supply natural gas. That will amount to a
savings of 2.5 million barrels of oil a day.
Our reliance on OPEC oil will be cut by 50 percent. Boone
Pickens calls this “a game changer.” With our reliance on OPEC down
by 50 percent, the oil producers will have to negotiate with us for
the price they charge us for oil, not the other way around. What is
more, we will have a breathing spell during which to find
alternative sources of energy. That breathing spell could last a
century or more. There is that much natural gas right here in
America. Finally, the energy sector of our economy can and will
produce thousands of high quality jobs.
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, to Middle Eastern
instability, to 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.
