Fracking of Natural Gas Compromises Environmentalists, House Oversight Committee Goes After Administration Energy Strategy

The Wall Stree Journal had an op-ed piece yesterday about how the environmental movement, who once touted natural gas as the "bridge fuel" to renewable power future has now turned against it. It is true that the Sirerra Club has a dedicted lobby effort to oppose hydraulic fracking, but I  seriously doubt that  environmentalists are anti natural gas.  Hydraulic fracturing and shale revolution has sent gas prices down to $2.50 and indeed, natural gas is cheaper than renewable sources of energy, even if you include the costs of carbon capture and sequestration.  But I doubt the veracity of the op-ed when they say that  the "green left has decided it must do everything it can to reduce the supply of gas and keep its price as high as possible."

Energy will be a campaign issue even if somewhat under the radar, or I should say, plays to Washington DC policy makers.  Today, the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee is going after the Obama administration in two hearings today. The first, at 9:30 a.m. in Rayburn 2154, gives a legislative branch nod to one of Mitt Romney's favorite campaign zingers - that President Barack Obama's "all of the above" energy policy is really an "all of the above the ground" strategy (favoring solar and wind and ignoring oil, coal and natural gas). The committee put out a 13-page "myth vs. fact" document last night.

The second hearing of the committee's technology panel, looks at "federal red tape" on hydraulic fracturing operations. Not at all surprisingly, Republicans have long been unhappy with federal agencies like EPA taking a role in fracking regulations, preferring oversight to be left to the states.