Cybersecdn– Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia together produce more natural gas than any other area in the world, except for Russia and the rest of the United States.
But instead of taking advantage of this good fortune and making the most of its potential to provide cleaner, cheaper, and more plentiful energy and goods connected to its production, our leaders at the federal level are still working hard to limit and get rid of the oil and gas industry in the US. This makes the United States weaker and less safe compared to our rivals and competition around the world.
Natural gas created in the United States is a gaseous mixture of hydrocarbons that is mostly made up of methane. The world’s biggest sources of methane emissions are natural wetlands and farming. Coal, oil, and natural gas output come in a close second through fourth. More than three times as much methane is released by wetlands and farming as is released by making natural gas. Compared to the others on the list, the oil and gas business has worked hard to cut down on methane emissions to protect against any bad effects those emissions might have.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and its Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program say that between 2018 and 2022, all of the country’s major producing basins—including the Appalachian Basin, which is home to Ohio—lowered their overall methane emissions. The amount of gas released dropped by 37% just in the Appalachian Basin. Even though production has been at an all-time high over the past few years, these big drops have happened.
As new technology and ideas are used to make and move natural gas, the industry will continue to cut down on methane emissions. Because of natural gas, carbon pollution has gone down across the United States, but especially in Ohio. As the way electricity is made has changed, older coal-fired power plants with big carbon footprints have been replaced with natural gas power plants that burn cleaner and use less energy.
Since at least 2006, these plants have helped cut carbon emissions in the energy sector more than any other source. Natural gas is still the best and most important way to cut down on carbon pollution in Ohio and across the country. Other countries keep building coal-fired power plants and making fossil fuels with almost no environmental responsibility. But Ohio, Appalachia, and the rest of the US are still the leaders in production, lowering emissions, and coming up with new ways to protect the environment.
Sadly, this success is still being fought against. The Biden government keeps going after the industry while doing nothing to stop the biggest sources of methane emissions. Instead, the administration puts up barriers against the only business that is working to lower carbon and methane emissions. This is also the most reliable and affordable energy source for our most vulnerable citizens.
People who live in Ohio are lucky and blessed to have so much oil and natural gas under their feet. Let’s not miss this chance to secure our energy future. Energy at home is an important part of modern society and protects national security in a world that is always at risk.
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As we make decisions about our oil and gas policy, let’s be smart and focus on the industry’s new ideas instead of working against our best chance to provide reliable energy at a low cost while lowering all emissions to protect the environment.
