Posted on 07/05/2017 4:35:10 AM PDT by IBD editorial writer
Natural Resources: Last week President Trump announced plans to make the U.S. not just energy independent, but a global energy powerhouse. Too bad everyone was hyperfocused on his tweets.
On Thursday, Trump said he was ushering in a new energy policy that marked an end to decades of fretting about an alleged "energy crisis" brought on by supposed limited domestic supplies and an insatiable demand for fossil fuels.
"We now know that was all a big, beautiful myth," Trump said in remarks at the Department of Energy. "The truth is that we have near-limitless supplies of energy in our country."
Trump had already taken several steps toward unleashing domestic energy supplies, but he announced six more that he plans to take, including reviving nuclear energy, lifting barriers to building coal plants overseas, building more energy pipelines — including one into Mexico — increased natural gas exports, and creating a new offshore-leasing program.
"The golden era of American energy is now underway," he said.
If that sounds overly dramatic, it isn't. Recent developments in drilling technology have made vast domestic supplies of oil and natural gas available for production. That, combined with the country's abundance of coal, means the U.S. could be a net energy exporter in nine years.
(Excerpt) Read more at investors.com ...
That is because your viewpoint is correct, at least in the short term. Coal CANNOT compete with natural gas. Of course, in the long term, "eventually" the natural gas supplies will deplete. It remains to be seen whether another energy tech will arise to compete with coal. If not, then coal will be used.
The main advantage coal had originally is that it could be obtained in large quantities using primitive tools (pick and shovel, horse-drawn wagons, etc).
This is exactly why Tillerson was selected as Secretary of State. The foreign deals are part of Trump’s plan. All of his major cabinet selections were made with an energy boom in mind.
The energy strategy is proof that Trump as a businessman is way ahead of politicians and bureaucrats in making things work. He realized that the United States cannot compete globally on labor costs. But we can compete by being one of the very few countries that can have both cheap abundant energy AND an advanced technological and manufacturing economy. The key is the energy cost. And that is the single focus of all his policy.
I would note that is the exact opposite of the policy of the 0bama regime, which had the opposite goals.
why would federal lands belong to state government?
In reality there is no such thing as Federal Lands. Article 1 Section 8 of the Constitution covers the exercise of authority over all places purchased (by Congress) and with the consent of the Legislature of the State in which the same shall be.
Unfortunately there was no purchase, nor consent regards lands that were promised and not delivered under the enabling acts of statehood for the twelve western States.
States east of the Rockies have less than 5% of their public lands under federal control. States west of the rockies, have 100% percent of their promised lands comprising 50 to 90% of their state land mass, under Federal control and thus useless for state purposes. It makes it extremely difficult to support what States need to do, in support of their citizens. To name just a few: Education, welfare, roads, healthcare, business, Legislature, government, etc, etc.
Not to mention the state of Unconstitutionality that exists.
Policies which lower the retail cost of gas and diesel are perhaps the most helpful to all Americans. I am of the opinion that they will do more to restore the economy than just about any other action.
We still have coal fired plants that can now stay operating, plus it can be turned into natural gas ( I don’t know the costs). If nothing else, it can always be exported to countries that still use large amounts of coal to generate electrivity.
The New York Times, Washington Post, CNN and MSNBC are so predictable... and horrible and ... lame.
This is the genius of Trump. He has the newsmedia covering stupid crap like a video meme for days while he’s fundamentally transforming America with virtually no pushback. He doesn’t care if the media calls him names. He’s still getting the job done.
He got them off Russia by offering up something even more important: THEMSELVES
“The golden era of American energy is now underway,” Trump said.
“Make American energy great again.” Maega. Will Gaea approve?
“...lands that were promised and not delivered under the enabling acts of statehood for the twelve western States...”
elaborate this is news to me
Even mo-betta yet:
Demand NATO payment from Europe, and charge China for all the patents and other intellectual property they stole.
"We'll just be deducting that from our tab, thank you very much."
(Meanwhile, back at the Ranchero, Mexico will be paying for that wall)
My understanding is that coal doesn’t compete with gas so much as with LNG, which is more expensive to create and ship than NG is to pump thru a pipeline. That is, I think coal is primarily an export commodity. And China and India are the main export markets, AFAIK.China has been stamping out coal-fired power plants like cookies, one a week - which is part of the joke which is the Paris scam. China is going to stop using those power plants in 2030. Of course they are.
“I don’t really understand the future of coal, because I don’t understand how it competes with natural gas.”
Part of the explanation has to do with a economic principle known as substitution.
For example, fifty low skilled laborers worth $10 per hour can be substituted for ten high skilled laborers earning $50 an hour, or for a single highly skilled heavy machine operator charging $500 per hour, even though no one is disputing the fact that the highly skilled laborer is more productive.
The low skill workers don’t earn as high a wage, and don’t enjoy as high a standard of living, but they still find their niche in the economy and remain viable.
Just as laborers of all different skill levels can coexist in the marketplace, so can all different energy sources with differing technologies, productivities and profitability levels.
I also believe coal has several advantages over natural gas, including cheaper stockpiling, and compatibility with legacy coal fired plants.
Finally, deregulation in the coal industry may cause at least a temporary bounce in economic viability as government imposed cost barriers are removed, artificially suppressed demand returns and market equilibrium is restored.
The total advantages of natural gas far outweigh your so-called advantages. "Legacy coal fired plants" are rapidly being replaced by combined cycle (gas-turbine/steam turbine) natural gas plants. Coal has no future in the power generation business in the US.
“The total advantages of natural gas far outweigh your so-called advantages.”
True. Natural gas is vastly superior in a multitude of ways. There are not many legacy coal fired plants left and they will not be around long. But they do exist.
“Coal has no future in the power generation business in the US.”
False. The future of coal in the US is limited but it’s silly to say it has no future.
Nobody is touting coal over natural gas. I was responding to a specific question.
It’s news to a lot of people, but explains how for example NV and AK have 90 percent of their land mass under Federal control unable to be taxed and lying essentially dormant as far as the State is concerned.
The link will give you the “other” side of the story. Basically the Government side. One must ask how come the Eastern states own 95 percent of their landmass, while the twelve western states are expected to make do with less than half their landmass in state hands. http://www.americanpubliclands.com/legal-facts/
The other side of the coin, the State side, can be viewed at http://www.americanlandscouncil.org Also the battle know as the sagebrush rebellion can be a source.
Here is another recent article by a not friendly source biased to the Government position, and explaining away the reasons Western states should have more than half their land, held in “government trust” and unusable.
thank you!
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