A new study from Miami University of Ohio reinforces what natural gas advocates have been saying for years: More natural gas energy production has led to lower U.S. carbon emissions.
The peer-reviewed study found overall greenhouse gas emissions dropped roughly 7.5 percent per year as American energy companies shifted from coal to hydraulic fracturing (fracking) for natural gas.
The drop was even more significant for CO2 emissions, with a yearly reduction of 10.5 percent.
“This outcome aligns with what many observers had hoped the shale gas boom would achieve,” said Dr. David Lindequist, the study’s lead author.
Energy analytics firm Wood Mackenzie said the switch to natural gas from coal reduced U.S. carbon dioxide emissions 65 percent from 2005 to 2019. The National Energy Technology Laboratory wrote the emission intensity decreased 32 percent thanks to gas produced in Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Ohio.
Longtime industry observers say this isn’t news. Studies dating back more than a decade have shown similar results, and in the past, activists concerned about global warming embraced natural gas.
The Center for Climate and Energy Solutions (C2ES) noted in a 2013 report that natural gas reduced emissions by replacing coal. The next year, President Barack Obama (D) portrayed natural gas as “the bridge fuel” to power the economy as the nation made the transition to wind and solar.
But by the end of 2014, Democrats in New York state had enacted a ban on fracking and green activists were fighting to block natural gas pipelines — even in cases when it would be used to replace coal or oil.
The Biden administration took the most aggressive actions against natural gas, imposing a “temporary pause” on liquid natural gas (LNG) export terminals. In his final weeks in office, Biden issued a last-minute ban on new offshore oil and gas drilling in most U.S. coastal waters.
His vice president, Kamala Harris, was a longtime supporter of a fracking ban until she replaced Biden as the Democratic nominee for president. Then she reversed her position, but still lost the election — including the energy-producing state of Pennsylvania.
Republicans took a different route. During his 2024 campaign, President Donald Trump repeatedly endorsed natural gas production. “On day one, I will tell Pennsylvania energy workers to frack, frack, frack, and drill, drill, drill, baby, drill,” said Trump. GOP congressional representatives visited places like the Permian Basin in Texas and New Mexico to promote energy development.
Energy groups say America’s allies recognize the need for more LNG to ensure reliable electricity and reduce emissions.
“As America increases our exports of LNG around the world, that LNG is displacing coal,” David N. Taylor, the president of the Pennsylvania Manufacturers’ Association, told DVJournal.
Natural gas has become the nation’s go-to for electric power. EIA statistics show 40 percent of consumers use natural gas to keep the lights on, including 32 percent of industrial facilities.
Despite the surge in natural gas usage, carbon emissions continued to fall.
Pennsylvania has been one of the biggest beneficiaries of America’s LNG boom.
The Keystone State’s oil and gas industry saw a massive surge in employment and production due to the expanded usage of hydraulic fracturing aka fracking and horizontal techniques. In 2010, the EIA ranked Pennsylvania 8th in domestic natural gas production. Now it’s second, behind only Texas.
A proposed export terminal on the Delaware River in southeastern Pennsylvania could have increase economic output even further.
Penn American Energy wanted to put the terminal near Chester. A report from the bipartisan Philadelphia LNG Export Task Force suggested the project would have brought in approximately $1.195 billion in total yearly economic output.
Supporters said the terminal would ship LNG to Europe.
“Governor Shapiro has it within his power to help fight back against Vladimir Putin that by maximizing Pennsylvania natural gas production by supporting an LNG terminal on the Delaware River, we can help reinforce our European allies,” said Taylor.
The project was put on hold last year following an executive order from then-President Joe Biden.
Taylor argued natural gas production should be a consensus issue for the nation, provided people are willing to evaluate it objectively.
Environmentalists like Doug Vine with C2ES acknowledged the benefits of America’s natural gas expansion.
“[It] really almost wiped out the idea of building a new coal plant in the U.S., so that in itself was very helpful in terms of kind of turning the tide against emissions,” he told InsideSources.
Whether natural gas remains a main driver of the American economy remains to be seen. Vine and Lindequist believe it will be a bridge fuel helping the country transition off fossil fuels.
Taylor feels the opposite.
“(Natural gas) is the way that not only do we make the environment better, but we also uphold our quality of life for our communities and for the citizens who live there,” he said.
