Natural Gas Is Officially "Green" in the European Union
The EU is ahead of the U.S. with a rational energy policy
Europe just ended, or at least paused, their war on fossil fuels that has been raging for decades. The European Parliament did so when they voted on July 6, 2022, to reclassify natural gas and nuclear power as being “green” for investment purposes. It is hard to admit that the EU is ahead of the U.S. in having a sane and sustainable energy policy.
This radical change came when European Union lawmakers voted in favor of a European Commission proposal to allow nuclear and natural gas-fired power plants to be marketed as sustainable investments in financial markets. Under the new rules, new gas-fired power plants built through 2030 will be classified as “transitional energy sources” if they replace coal or fuel oil-fired plants, switch to a low-carbon gas like hydrogen by 2035, and stay under a maximum emissions cap for at least 20 years.
The notion of natural gas being a “transitional fuel” harkens back to over forty years ago when the Sierra Club and other environmental groups promoted the idea that natural gas was a “bridge fuel” to a non-fossil fuel future because it was not only the cleanest burning fossil fuel, it was limited in supply. President Jimmy Carter promoted the Power Plant and Industrial Fuel Use Act of 1978, arguing that natural gas and oil reserves were so limited that only coal could be used to generate electricity.
Environmental groups became opponents of natural gas a bridge fuel when the shale revolution in the early-2000s revealed that the U.S. had hundreds of years of natural gas reserves. Environmental groups switched to a smear campaign against “shale gas,” using words like fracking” and “fracked gas,” which were not-so-veiled references to what they regarded as a fossil fuel that was screwing up the environment.
Interestingly, Climate Envoy John Kerry commented on what the EU was considering in a January 2022 speech at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce when he asserted that natural gas could be a bridge fuel that can help nations on their path to net-zero emissions. Kerry said that “Gas is going to be important to the transition” with the qualifier, “but if we move too fast and too far with too much and build out an infrastructure for 30 and 40 years, with plans to be able to use for 30 or 40 years without abatement—if abated, terrific. If you can capture 100% and it makes it affordable, that’s wonderful. But we’re not doing that.” In other words, natural gas is not acceptable as a bridge fuel if it requires infrastructure that lasts 30 or 40 years.
The Europeans have ignored John Kerry due to the prospect of freezing to death next winter due to the failure of wind and solar energy and Putin cutting off natural gas to Europe. Their decision to embrace natural gas by building LNG import terminals, gas pipelines, and gas-fired electricity plants is a move in the right direction.
Hopefully, the U.S. will soon follow the EU by ending its war on fossil fuels, declaring natural gas and nuclear power “green” for investment purposes, and guaranteeing that natural gas wells, pipelines, and LNG export facilities receive expedited permitting. A recent nationwide poll found that nearly 70% of all voters support increased domestic natural gas production, so there is hope that U.S. energy policy will get back on the right track soon.