Obama Finally Starts to Make Good on Campaign Promises; Discovers the Virtues of Natural Gas

Prez Inept must really be feeling the heat if he now has to start making good on campaign promises

By Marc J. Rauch
Exec. Vice President/Co-Publisher
THE AUTO CHANNEL

AUTO CENTRAL - March 31, 2011: Nearly three years ago, Obama made a significant energy policy statement that, if he fulfilled, could have given his presidency some value. TheAutoChannel.com commented at length on the event (read it by CLICKING HERE). Unfortunately, now that his administration has proven itself to be as poor as what some expected from a person with no experience in anything that's relevant to making decisions, he has decided to make some noise about CNG. Don't get me wrong, it's great that there's some focus on this subject, but if it's just as a result of the stupid action that he's taking in Libya, along with his corruption-riddled health plan scam, then he should just go ahead and resign from office before it's finally discovered that due to citizenship issues that he can't legally hold the office (for more on this CLICK HERE).

But that's enough Barak bashing for now, let's get on with what might be great news, the removal of ridiculous EPA restrictions on the conversion of existing gasoline-powered vehicles to CNG. This would be great because not only does it potentially affect hundreds of millions vehicles on American roads right now, giving the vehicles owners a real option to save money and pollute less, it signals to OPEC that the party could be coming to an end, and it tells the Amreican people that we do not need gasoline: alternative options like CNG, propane and ethanol work, they work great, and they save you money on every gallon you buy.

Of course there are still hurdles, such as the ridiculous annual fees that the government charges CNG conversion kit manufacturers to have their kits certified; and then there's the preposterous extra restrictions placed on retro-fit conversions by California Air Resources Board, which makes it impossible to convert an existing vehicle or buy a retrofitted vehicle from out-of-state and then registering it in California.

And lastly, it would be good if we could get all the gasoline companies out of the way so that they don't wind up doing the same thing to a burgeoning CNG industry that they did to the gasoline industry - it's like saying "Hey, we have a new idea for an investment ccompany, let's bring in Madoof, Keeting, Milken and the dead Enron guy to run it."

So once these minor details get put to bed we could be on the road to cleaner air, economic recovery and less profits for the OPEC countries to support global terrorism.

And now, the news:

DULLES, VA - Noting "the potential for natural gas is enormous," President Obama put aside his feud with the oil and gas industry for a moment Wednesday, and for the first time promoted the use of natural gas, particularly gas-fueled vehicles, as part of his energy policy, according to Natural Gas Intelligence (NGI). As he spoke the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a rule easing the conversion of after-market cars and trucks to compressed natural gas (CNG) and other alternative fuels.

"In terms of [developing] new sources of energy, we have a few different options. The first is natural gas," Obama said during a speech at Georgetown University on Wednesday. "Recent innovations have given us the opportunity to tap large reserves, perhaps a century's worth of reserves...in the shale under our feet," the president said, surprising those who had come to expect natural gas to be buried among the also-rans of an energy policy devoted to efficiency and renewable fuels.

Natural gas for transportation "is an area where there's actually been some broad bipartisan agreement" in Washington. The president noted that last year more than 150 members of Congress from both sides of the aisle offered legislation to provide incentives for natural gas vehicles.

Oil and gas billionaire T. Boone Pickens, an avid supporter of CNG vehicles, was "encouraged" by Obama's speech, predicting Wednesday that the New Alternative Transportation to Give Americans Solutions Act -- known as the NAT GAS Act -- would pass Congress with strong bipartisan support and be signed by Obama by the end of the year. Pickens said opposition by some environmental groups to hydraulic fracturing used to unlock shale gas resources would not be a roadblock.

The Pickens Plan, which encourages more heavy duty fleet vehicles to run on domestic resources, is included in the NAT GAS Act, which is being prepared for introduction next week in the U.S. House of Representatives by Congressmen John Sullivan (R-OK), Dan Boren (D-OK), John Larson (D-CT) and Kevin Brady (R-TX).

The president also directed federal agencies to, by 2015, buy only alternative-fuel vehicles, as part of a goal to cut oil imports by one-third by 2025.

The final rule released by the EPA Wednesday eases regulatory roadblocks to convert older vehicles to alternative fuels. In the case of natural gas this would make it easier for automobile owners and auto shops to legally convert vehicles to CNG as long as they comply with emissions standards.

The stock market took note of the breakthrough in the administration's revamped policy on Wednesday. Stocks of natural gas-weighted production companies jumped, mostly on the order of 1-3%, but some pure plays such as Range Resources Inc., Cabot Oil & Gas Corp. and Petrohawk Energy Corp. saw their stocks gain 4-5%.

The president cautioned, however, "we've got to make sure that we're extracting natural gas safely without polluting our water supply. That's why I've asked [Energy Secretary Steven] Chu to work with other agencies, the natural gas industry, states and environmental experts to improve the safety" of hydraulic fracturing.

However, President Obama continued his battle with the industry during the speech Wednesday, defending the nearly year-long moratorium on drilling in the Gulf of Mexico following last April's rig explosion and oil spill, threatening new "use it or lose it" requirements for federal leases and higher royalty charges. The president noted the Interior Department's issuance last month, as the Middle East exploded in turmoil, of the first new permits to drill both shallow and deep water wells in the Gulf of Mexico.

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Intelligence Press Inc., is an independent publishing company serving the energy industry since 1981 with real-time news and price survey reports for the natural gas market in its publications: Natural Gas Intelligence, Daily Gas Price Index, and Weekly Gas Price Index. Its new publication, "NGI's Shale Daily" is the first daily publication devoted exclusively to the enormous shale revolution that is rewriting the energy outlook in North America.