Radical climate change activists ignore this real threat to the planet
Fox News
In the complex realm of climate change and energy availability, pragmatism—not panic—is paramount.
Republican August Pfluger represents Texas's 11th Congressional District in the United States House of Representatives. He sits on the House Committee on Energy & Commerce and is the Chairman of the Homeland Security Subcommittee on Intelligence and Counterterrorism.
The argument that wind and solar energy are the least expensive forms of new power generation conveniently ignores the reality that neither wind nor solar can provide a reliable base load for power generation. Additionally, neither of these renewable energy sources would exist without expensive, unreliable batteries produced with minerals mined using slave labor in China, and none of these batteries can produce energy for more than a few hours at a time.
In contrast, natural gas production has lowered both prices and emissions. In 2019, economists estimated that the shale revolution reduced the domestic price of natural gas by 63 percent and led to a 45 percent decrease in the wholesale price of electricity. This has saved U.S. consumers an estimated $203 billion annually, or $2,500 for a family of four. When it comes to emissions, methane emissions attributed to the oil and gas sector have dropped by 14 percent, and CO2 emissions from the US power sector declined by 28 percent — with the generation of power from natural gas accounting for more than half of said decline. According to the EPA, emissions declined by 31.9 million metric tons of CO2 from 1990 to 2017 with natural gas production increasing by 51 percent over the same time period.