What a Gas Boom Looks Like in Motion

The good folks at the Energy Information Administration have produced this stunning 22-second video that shows the boom in natural gas drilling in Pennsylvania from 2005 to April 2012.  While you watch this explosion of prosperity for the Keystone state and contemplate with glee the anguish this is causing environmentalists, keep in mind that next-door New York has continued to ban most natural gas exploration and production, which not only deprives the Empire state of economic activity, but has bid up the prices of gas leases on private land in Pennsylvania.  Think of it as Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s wealth-transfer-to-Pennsylvania policy.

Meanwhile, the gas boom is not just causing heartburn to Green Weenies here in the U.S.  According to a new report just out from the International Energy Agency, the natural gas boom in America is—are your ready?—leading to increased coal consumption in Europe, some of it additional imports of cheap American coal.  The IEA predicts European coal consumption will rise by 10 percent or more over the next decade.  Double-win!  Here’s the key slide from the IEA report, and savor the headline, “US shale gas switches on coal in Europe”:

Click to embiggen

Hat tip: Roger Pielke, Jr.

Notice: All comments are subject to moderation. Our comments are intended to be a forum for civil discourse bearing on the subject under discussion. Commenters who stray beyond the bounds of civility or employ what we deem gratuitous vulgarity in a comment — including, but not limited to, “s***,” “f***,” “a*******,” or one of their many variants — will be banned without further notice in the sole discretion of the site moderator.

Responses