Lydia Meigs America Has a Crush on Natural Gas

Posted on February 14, 2011 by Lydia Meigs | Comments Off


What’s not to love?

Call it tradition or call it cupid’s arrow, but today AGA wants to share its affection for natural gas. 

Our burner tips are all a-flutter when we think of heating with natural gas because we know we have found a fuel that is committed to us for the long-term.  With domestic reserves that boast an abundant supply, which could sustain our energy needs for approximately 100 years, it is the energy source that everyone can depend on. 

You can always turn it on.  As consumers, we need to be able to rely on basic things like a warm home, hot water and the ability to cook food.  Natural gas is ready and waiting, even when the rest of your neighborhood is suffering a blackout.  In fact, natural gas is so reliable that many use it to back-up generators in case of power outages.  Other energy sources require you to keep a tank full, but natural gas is delivered through a pipeline, which means it is always there when you need it.

Is it really any wonder why AGA is gaga for natural gas?  With an abundant domestic supply America has a golden opportunity to start replacing tired old appliances with natural gas.  So, go on, show your valentine that you care by checking out a new on-demand hot water heater, a professional-grade stove or a natural gas clothes dryer.  Modern natural gas appliances are among the safest options to heat your home, cook your food, and dry your clothes and manufacturers continue to introduce new innovations to improve cost savings.  Forget the chocolates for your valentine and invest in natural gas: the gift that delivers.

Roses are red, gas flames are blue.  We love America’s clean fuel, how ‘bout you?

 

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Bruce Kauffmann No Matter the Question, Domestic Energy is the Answer

Posted on February 11, 2011 by Bruce Kauffmann | 1 Comment


Jonah Goldberg, editor-at-large for National Review Online, wrote an interesting column recently in which he noted that regardless of what question one poses with respect to improving our economy, the proper answer to that question is to increase our use of domestic energy.  For example:

How do we improve the deficit? President Obama is excoriated by his critics for adding trillions of dollars to the deficit.  But Goldberg writes that, according to estimates, if America “unlocked its oil and natural gas reserves, the government could take in somewhere between $1 trillion and $2 trillion in additional revenue over the coming years.”  And as he points out, the resulting lower fuel and energy costs also would stimulate the economy, further reducing the deficit.

How do we improve our trade imbalances? Increasing domestic use of oil and natural gas means we import less from overseas, which, by definition, improves our trade imbalance.  This is especially true of natural gas.  According to a number of energy experts, including the Potential Gas Committee, at current production levels the United States enjoys a 100-year supply of natural gas, and rapidly improving technologies mean we should be able to produce even more domestic gas, potentially extending that supply outlook far beyond 100 years.  As Goldberg notes, “it’s quite possible that the United States could be the Saudi Arabia of natural gas.”  He also points out that using more domestic energy not only reduces the trade deficit it increases our GDP.

How do we create good-paying jobs? Goldberg puts it succinctly” “You can’t drill for American oil and natural gas in China, Saudi Arabia or anyplace else other than America.”  The more domestic energy we produce, the more domestic jobs we produce, and jobs in the exploration and production of oil and natural gas pay more than twice the national average.

Goldberg agrees that renewable energy is our energy future, although—like many of us in the natural gas industry—he believes the day when renewable energy dominates our energy landscape is farther off than most people think.  What he proposes is a “do-it-all strategy” in which we focus not just on developing renewable energy, but also on the development of our domestically abundant fossil fuels.

The result, he writes, would be “creating good jobs here at home, lowering energy costs, reducing our reliance on foreign oil, and cutting the deficit.”

Funny, that’s what we at the American Gas Association have been saying for years.

Posted in energy, Natural Gas | 1 Comment

Dave McCurdy A message from AGA President and CEO, Dave McCurdy

Posted on February 9, 2011 by Dave McCurdy | Comments Off


My Start at AGA

I suppose most Americans will remember February 7, 2011, as the day after the Green Bay Packers won their fourth Super Bowl, but I will remember that day as the day I took the helm of the American Gas Association.

I come to AGA from the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, where I served as president and CEO, and before that I led the Electronic Industries Alliance, so I am very familiar with the association world. I am also very familiar with the political process, having served seven terms as a member of Congress, representing the Fourth Congressional District of Oklahoma.

And, yes, I am also a “Sooner” and proud of it, in great part because Oklahoma is a state in which energy exploration and production is a way of life. I grew up in Oklahoma’s oil and gas patch, so I am very familiar with the amazing advances in technology that now allow us to produce energy in an efficient, cost-effective and environmentally responsible manner. I am also well aware of the new unconventional sources of clean natural gas that are coming to market, especially shale gas, which has the potential to be a true game-changer with respect to our long-term domestic gas supply outlook.

AGA and its members deliver clean natural gas that can fuel our economy for hundreds of years to come, making us more competitive and energy independent, while reducing our greenhouse gas emissions along the way.  Simply put, clean natural gas is poised to deliver on many of the challenges we face today.

That is why I believe it’s time to put in place a national energy policy that meets the demands of a clean energy economy. Such a policy should feature increased domestic energy production, aggressive energy efficiency goals, a commitment to alternative sources of energy such as wind, solar and nuclear, and—most of all—a focus on the central role that clean, domestically abundant natural gas can and must play in fueling our future.   

To these ends, I ask you to join us in advocating practical, commonsense policies that integrate the entire fuel mix.  Together we can ensure our energy security, foster our economic growth and advance our environmental stewardship.

Posted in Natural Gas, welcome | Comments Off

Dan Gibson LIHEAP Action Day kickoff

Posted on February 9, 2011 by Dan Gibson | Comments Off


So, one my favorite events at AGA is the annual LIHEAP Action Day event. LIHEAP stands for Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program. LIHEAP is a federally funded energy assistance program designed to help low-income households cope with the financial burdens of heating and cooling their homes. Last year’s program helped about 8.9 millions households but there’s great concern that those numbers will fall if any cuts come to the program.

That’s a real possibility this year.

To make sure that policy makers are aware of the importance of LIHEAP, AGA works with the National Fuel Funds Network (NFFN) to put on LIHEAP Action Day. People fly-in from all across the country, taking time out of their busy schedules, to go to the Hill in mass to speak with policy makers about LIHEAP in their areas. Before these people go to the Hill, we have a short program giving them the latest statistics on LIHEAP.

George Coling, the Executive Director of the NFFN, opened the program and handed it off to our new president and CEO Dave McCurdy. Dave gave some great information and background on LIHEAP before turning it over to Nick Stavropoulos of National Grid.

Nick briefly reiterated the statistical side of the importance of LIHEAP. More people needing help. The poverty rate rising from 13 percent to 14 percent in the last year. That although LIHEAP helped 8.9 million households, or approximately 23 million people, the money available was only enough to help 1 in 5 eligible Americans.

The thing about LIHEAP though is, while the numbers are important, it’s the people that really matter. The personal stories. Nick shared his.

He spoke about being a little league coach in his youth. What a great experience it was. How much he got out of it and gave to it. He mentioned coaching Rumeal Robinson…I’m actually old enough to remember that Michigan team. He said Matt Damon was a great kid, a good shortstop and his mom was at every game. And then he mentioned James.

James was a kid they coached for a few years and left the team around 12. He was from an unstable, low-income family that was having trouble making ends meet. After he left the team, they would see him around the neighborhood and try to talk to him about the choices he was making to help his family make money to make those ends meet. The story ended sadly, as you might suspect, with James, a young kid of 15, dying in activities he shouldn’t have been involved trying to earn a buck to keep the heat on and food on the table.

Nick said those are the types of stories he thinks about when he goes to people to ask for help with these types of programs and he urged people talking to policy makers to remember their own James as they make the hard ask today to ensure that LIHEAP is fully funded at $5.1 billion.

There’s going to be alot of stuff going on around LIHEAP today. I’ll post a couple pictures from this morning but will do some more later on the media event, etc. For now, take a look at this LIHEAP fact sheet.

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