Why Shale Gas is Closing Coal Plants: So Why Do the Hippies Hate Shale?

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As part of our series looking at the future of American energy, The Financialist spoke to Osmar Abib, global head of Credit Suisse’s oil and gas investment banking group, about the rise of natural gas production in the U.S., thanks in large part to the development of shale gas fields.    The shale drilling revolution that has allowed natural gas producers to access vast, previously unreachable resources has already had a profound impact on the U.S. energy sector, but what that means for the broader economy and global trade is a larger question.  

John Hanger points out on his energy blog that energy-related carbon dioxide emissi

I appreciate that environmentalists don’t like super-simplistic economic models that assume perfect competition and perfect information. I don’t like them either. And consequently, I agree that though a “cap and dividend” scheme in which you auction CO2 emissions permits and then rebate the money to taxpayers makes sense in a simplistic model it’s not the optimal policy for the real world.

The last time I wrote an email this amusing was a little over a year ago, just after President Obama’s 2012 State of the Union address. There was something I had to get off my chest. In particular, President Obama appeared to be taking credit for the revival of U.S. energy. Whaaaaa? Is he really standing up on the podium – amidst incessant applause — and actually saying he’s responsible for this energy breakthrough? Wow, what a crock, I thought to myself.

US coal exports have hit a record high of 66.2 million tons, a 24 percent rise, in the first half of the year, according to the US Energy Information Administration.With higher prices of natural gas in Europe, more than half of US exports went to Europe, or 13 percent of total US production. Opposing incentive programs in the countries are mostly to blame for the trend. As the shale revolution in the US decreases prices of natural gas to record lows, natural gas in Europe is often more expensive than importing coal.