Marty Allday, executive director of Consumer Energy Alliance-Texas, penned a column for the San Antonio Express-News about how Texans should not be misled by anti-development activists threatening to thwart their state’s energy boom and its resulting economic benefits.
At a time when we should be talking about how to continue advances in environmental stewardship and develop our resources to grow our economy, some activists are working to curtail our national Energy Revolution. Now this same fight has come to Texas, the epicenter of responsible and abundant American energy production.
In Dallas, activists persuaded the city council to approve restrictive regulations that amount to a de facto ban on oil and natural gas production within the city limits. In Denton, this small opposition group is pushing a ban on hydraulic fracturing that would shut down production in one of the state’s best natural gas fields.
In San Antonio, national activist groups are telling one-sided and biased accounts on air quality impacts in an attempt to limit natural gas production from the nearby Eagle Ford shale.
A balanced, well-thought-out discussion on the merits of hydraulic fracturing and overall energy production is always warranted. Communities should make informed decisions. Unfortunately, that is not what is occurring.
In Colorado and Pennsylvania, some anti-energy activists continue to provide unsupportable data in an effort to push local restrictions on state regulations and throw the oil and natural gas industry into chaos. If they have their way, major gains in American energy security, billions in state and local revenues; and thousands of good jobs could be derailed.
Five years ago, these same activist groups embraced increased domestic natural gas production as a means to reduce U.S. greenhouse gas emissions and slow the effects of climate change. But now, just as U.S. energy self-sufficiency is within grasp, these same groups are working to undermine the nation’s leading job-creating industry along with its impressive progress in achieving the goals of our environmental protection laws and efforts to curb climate change.
Texas can expect to see more of this in the coming months and years. As the fight over the Keystone XL pipeline (eventually) comes to a close, groups who made their opposition to that project their signature issue are looking for another fight. And hydraulic fracturing is in their crosshairs. A tsunami of activist cash will be rerouted to pick apart the boom in U.S. energy by attacking its game-changing technology.
Don’t fall for their scare tactics! Be proud of Texas’ production. Let’s all take stock in Texas energy and Texas pride!