Pain at the Pump

Gas prices this summer continue to hover at abnormal highs, even as experts state the current election crisis in Tehran is having little impact.

What is the problem, then? Granted, we’re still a long ways from the $4 per gallon prices of this time last year, but Americans are still feeling pain at the pump, and the calls for alternative sources of energy renew once again.

Then there’s a high-profile study released last week reporting the United States has 35 percent more natural gas resources than previously estimated. The Potential Gas Committee’s report, backed by the prestigious Colorado School of Mines, is a real game-changer: It means more clean-burning American energy for lower prices. Much of the credit goes to new drilling technologies like “fracking,” industry parlance for hydraulic fracturing — a mining technique in which fluid under high pressure is pumped to crack shale and release natural gas.

This should be great news for every American and a wake-up call to Al Gore disciples. No matter how efficient new washing machines are, no matter how many miles hybrids go per gallon and no matter how much white paint is spackled onto rooftops, Americans of the future will need more energy. As the United States booms in the coming decades, we simply will need more cars, more computers and more energy-draining machinery.

We certainly can’t depend on petroleum imports for that extra energy. The exploitation of foreign oil, which accounts for about 58 percent of American consumption, is fatally expensive. Our dependence costs far too much when negative externalities like environmental, diplomatic and military burdens are considered. Knowing this, who would stand in the way of providing Americans high-paying jobs to produce clean-burning, domestic natural gas?

Blame the House Democrats. Policymakers like U.S. Rep. Diana DeGette (D-Colo.) and her “green at all costs” sidekicks on Capitol Hill want to trample on clean domestic energy production by introducing a bill to specifically add layers of federal bureaucratic oversight to uses of hydraulic fracturing. DeGette claims that federal regulation is necessary to prevent groundwater contamination.

DeGette couldn’t be more off base. Further regulation is unnecessary, redundant and expensive. According to the Independent Petroleum Association of Mountain States, there has never been a single documented instance of groundwater contamination from fracking. Meanwhile, state agencies already enforce critical water safety standards and regulate fracking techniques. Economically, further bureaucracy will only add cost to a clean energy source already strained by price in a hyper-competitive market.

In response to a cry for unnecessary regulation, Republicans must boldly go green. Republicans should champion the people and innovations that bring clean energy to Americans from Americans. The combustible engine is not going away, folks! We need some real-world solutions, and sometimes those solutions are right in our backyards.

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