US action needed for gas on climate change - ACC

04 December 2007 00:25  [Source: ICIS news]

By Joseph Chang

NEW YORK (ICIS news)--Any US government discussion on climate change must involve increasing the supply of natural gas in the country, American Chemistry Council (ACC) CEO Jack Gerard said on Monday.

“The key missing link to discussion on climate change and energy efficiency is the need to add more natural gas supply to the mix,” Gerard said in a meeting with the trade press. If Congress is going to make big decisions on climate change, they need to take gas into consideration. We need a competitive natural gas supply to help on this front.”

One btu of natural gas used to make the chemicals for insulation saves 40 btus in energy, noted ACC chief economist Kevin Swift. One pound of plastics in light vehicles on average replaces two to three pounds of other materials, improving fuel efficiency.

All this requires competitive natural gas supply, he said. “We will one day have a colder winter or hot summer that will drive gas prices up. But praying for mild weather is not an energy policy.”

The ACC will continue to push for opening up areas of the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) for natural gas exploration in 2008, although Gerard acknowledges it will be difficult to get legislation through with a Democratic Congress and Republican president in an election year.

“Around 85% of natural gas supplies in the US are off limits and much of it is in the Gulf of Mexico,” he said. “There’s lots of political rhetoric around the dangers of opening up these areas, but they are unfounded.”

By: Joseph Chang
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