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Government and the American Economy: A New History
Valuable perspectives in dealing with our current economic crisis from the University of Chicago Press
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Energy > Expanding Liquified Natural Gas (LNG)
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Expanding Liquified Natural Gas (LNG)
With the demand for more energy sources, liquified natural gas is an important potential source of energy.
 The National Petroleum Council says the U.S. needs to expand three liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminals and build six to eight more to help meet U.S. natural gas demand – expected to grow 40 percent by 2025, according to an article in the Christian Science Monitor. But construction of the mammoth, $500 million dollar facilities frequently encounters objections from more affluent, environmentally-aware and more densely populated communities.
An Eastern Maine location won local approval, but hit an international snag. Canada says the Quoddy LNG’s proposed terminal would seriously harm its tourism and other local industries. There are 40 LNG terminals currently before the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission or being discussed by the LNG industry in North America. (See “Other Resources” below for more FERC resources, as well as others.) Some environmentalists say opposition to LNG is more than a “not in my backyard” issue and that extraction of more natural gas elsewhere would threaten global ecosystems. (Five LNG terminals in the continental U.S. and a sixth in Puerto Rico are currently operating.)
Dr. Henry Lee of Harvard University, Director of the Environment and Natural Resources Program, explains in his AO Primer why the U.S. will never attain energy independence. Domestic natural gas supplies won’t fill demand over the next 30 to 40 years, he says, but investing in natural gas supplies in other, frequently unstable, countries also poses a risk. Another AO Primer, which features Dr. Joseph Kalt, also of Harvard University, agrees that energy independence is not achievable. Alternatives to fossil fuels are not cost-effective, and the U.S. already imports 30 percent of its total energy supplies and more than half of its oil.
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