Pennsylvania shale natural gas production, Second largest by state In the United States, it has become an unexpectedly important issue in the 2024 presidential election.
Former President Trump and his Republican allies are sounding the alarm in key battleground states. make an unfair claim His opponent, Kamala Harris, has said that if elected, she would ban fracking, a process used to develop shale gas. Supporting shale gas productionShe has maintained this position since becoming Joe Biden's running mate in 2020.
In fact, the US Department of Energy under the Biden-Harris administration last week New permits for export of liquefied natural gasHarris ended a moratorium that was put in place earlier this year, signaling to Pennsylvania's centrist voters that she has no intention of curtailing U.S. gas production. Significantly increased Under a Biden-Harris administration, consumer natural gas prices will remain low. The U.S. Energy Information Administration projects that both natural gas production and U.S. natural gas exports will grow at a CAGR of 1.2%. Expected to grow This will continue for the next few years.
But despite the national political attention, a key benefit of Pennsylvania gas goes unreported: its far lower methane and lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions. than Texas natural gas and other major producing countries, According to a large independent study It was released last year.
As Concerns about the impact of methane emissions on climate change If methane emissions continue to rise, reducing emissions would give Pennsylvania gas a significant market advantage over gas with higher methane content, making it easier to meet important new national and international methane standards. So this issue is a win-win for the Harris campaign, both for party members concerned about the environment and for battleground state voters who are focused on jobs and the local economy.
Last month, the European Union Restrictions on methane content in natural gas importsThis is important to the United States because Europe No. 1 destination for U.S. natural gas exportsThe Biden-Harris administration will continue to Reduce dependency Not only is it dependent on gas from Vladimir Putin's Russia; Funding the war in Ukraine but, Significant increase in methane and life cycle greenhouse gas emissions.
Domestically, the Biden-Harris administration is regulating methane emissions. Reduce greenhouse gas emissions across the United States — The key actions to limit short-term temperature rise are: Causing costly impacts from climate change Heat waves, major storms, wildfires, floods, etc. A large natural gas company in Pennsylvania Reducing methane emissionsOur emissions are far less than those of gas companies producing in other regions.
Such progress on methane is absolutely Important for overall climate protectionThe Biden-Harris Administration is a global leader in prioritizing methane reduction. In addition to domestic regulations, the Administration is working with European allies to: Global Methane Pledge, More than 150 countries have agreed and signaled their support for a 30% reduction in methane emissions over the next decade, and last week Special Climate Envoy John Podesta visited Beijing. China pressured to cut methane emissions In the same way.
In contrast, Donald Trump has undermined U.S. climate change leadership during his presidency, Withdrawal from the Paris Agreement and Reversing dozens of key climate protectionsTrump has vowed to further devastatingly weaken climate protections if he wins in November. Biden-Harris Administration to repeal new clean energy incentives “From day one” — incentives that will be the source of billions of dollars of new annual investment and hundreds of thousands of new jobs.
Under the Biden-Harris administration, PennsylvaniaDespite mandated methane emissions cuts in the United States to protect the climate and public safety, natural gas production has increased dramatically while gas prices for consumers remain low — a win-win situation both economically and environmentally for voters in Pennsylvania and in battleground states like Michigan, Wisconsin, North Carolina and Georgia.
And with her campaign highlighting the low emissions from Pennsylvania shale gas, nothing could be more appealing to Kamala Harris than natural gas.
Paul Bledsoe is a professor at the Environmental Policy Center at American University and served on the White House Climate Change Task Force under former President Bill Clinton.
