A new piece by Chris Tomlinson of the Houston Chronicle highlights the misguided nature of pipeline protests. Tomlinson quickly pointed to two major fallacies of the Environmentalist Left’s anti-pipeline argument:
“The ‘Keep It In The Ground’ movement, though, makes two faulty conclusions. First, there are insufficient alternatives to petroleum products available at a reasonable cost, which means they will get extracted somewhere. Second, blocking a pipeline will not stop companies from drilling and pumping because other delivery methods exist.”
Tomlinson was especially critical of environmentalists’ opposition to natural gas pipelines, as protesters choose to falsely claim that “LNG is not a solution to the climate change problem,” ignoring the role natural gas has played in reducing emissions:
“Perhaps the most misguided protests are against natural gas pipelines. The U.S. is awash with cheap natural gas, which has made gas-fired power plants more economical. The replacement of coal with gas has reduced greenhouse emissions from power plants to 1990 levels. Every sober proposal to reduce greenhouse gas emissions relies on gas-fired plants replacing coal to supplement renewable energy. That means building pipelines, like the Atlantic Coast Pipeline passing through Virginia, to ensure a reliable supply of gas. If anti-pipeline forces succeed, they will guarantee coal’s future and obstruct progress in fighting climate change.”
Tomlinson then focused on why pipelines are especially critical for Texas, as the nation’s top producer of natural gas faces a pipeline shortage:
“Natural gas pipelines are especially needed in West Texas’ Permian Basin, where oil wells are setting records as they crank out more than 3 million barrels per day and produce gas as a byproduct. When no gas pipeline capacity is available, the Texas Railroad Commission grants companies’ permission to burn the gas with flares, wasting the energy and polluting the air. Pipelines are the safest and cheapest way to transport the energy we need. Blocking them endangers the environment.”
