Fracking Is Our Clean Power Plan

NCPA August 27, 2015

The U.S. already leads the world in carbon emissions reduction thanks to the increased use of natural gas obtained through fracking, or hydraulic fracturing, says executive vice president and chief operating officer Jacki Pick of the National Center for Policy Analysis.

Natural gas has not only helped reduce carbon emission but it has also contributed to the economic growth of the U.S. (50% in a 27 year period). This impressive economic growth was the result of cheap fossil fuels and fracking was key to their production.

The economy as a whole has benefited by having lower energy costs resulting in a manufacturing renaissance and estimates predict that in the near future it will be less expensive to manufacture goods in the U.S. than in China.

However, the federal government's initiative contained in the Clean Power Plan aims to achieve carbon emission reduction through an ineffective approach.

• It relies on costly and inferior energy production methods.
• It forecasts unrealistic numbers of green jobs.
• It would be the most expensive regulation ever imposed upon the power sector.
• Could easily force manufacturers overseas again, killing jobs.
• Fixed-income Americans would be the hardest hit by these soaring energy bills.

Fracking, making use of advanced technology, has already achieved what environmental advocates have failed to achieve: to make America the top carbon emissions reducer in the world, along with the strengthening of the U.S. economy.

Source: Jacki Pick, "Fracking Is Our Clean Power Plan," Forbes, August 25, 2015.

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