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Minimal petrol taxation and lack of climate policy contribute to American greenhouse gas emissions and energy use per person being among the world's highest. Yet the former president George W Bush cited the lack of restrictions on China for the US's refusal to sign up to international deals aimed at limiting global warming. The average American produces almost three times the carbon dioxide of the typical Chinese.

The House voted late Monday night 72-47 in favor of overriding her veto. The margin was just enough to meet the 60-percent majority required for overrides. Senators voted 29-13 earlier in the day.

Perdue issued the veto Sunday, saying she objected to the bill based on environmental and other concerns.

Pennsylvania (the Marcellus Shale Gas deposit) and I agree!

Pennsylvania (the Marcellus Shale Gas deposit) and I agree!

What do money markets, antiques, gold, corn, wheat, and stocks in companies like Google or Apple have in common? They’re bought by speculators.

And yet speculators, especially in oil, have become the bogeyman of economics. On tomorrow’s I Spy Radio Show (11-noon, kykn.com), we talk with Dr. Daniel Fine about America’s energy resources and energy policy. What role do speculators have in the price of oil?

And find out why those who think high gas prices might hurt Obama’s re-election may be in for a big surprise.

* Listen live on the radio, Saturdays 11-noon (Pacific time) via 1430-AM in the greater Salem Area (Corvallis to Tigard, Lyons to Grand Ronde) * Listen live from anywhere in the world via kykn.com (11-noon on Saturdays) via the “listen live” tab up top of web page * Download the show after it airs. Just go to the Current Show page. The download link becomes active shortly after noon each Saturday.

:) that is cool!

Ever been off shore? Sounds like you need some classes! Do you even know how they drill out there?

We shall see! Of course there is off shore...

"While North Carolina struggles with an ongoing abysmal employment situation, fracking is providing a welcome boon for North Dakota, Pennsylvania, and Ohio, among others. Being a latecomer in the game could have its own benefits, however; as Daniel Fine of the New Mexico Center for Energy Policy has explained, North Carolina is well positioned to survey and adopt the best practices, the best technology, and the best legal landscape. And the Deep River Basin in Lee and Chatham counties offers an especially promising area for development."

The full one hour video can be seen here-->"North Carolina's approach to natural gas fracking" ---> http://lockerroom.johnlocke.org/2012/02/27/north-carolinas-approach-to-natural-gas-fracking/

Podcast: danielfine022712.mp4

Dr. Daniel I. Fine works with the New Mexico Center for Energy Policy. He is a longtime research associate at the Mining and Minerals Resources Institute, MIT. Fine is also a policy adviser on nonconventional oil and gas. He is co-editor of Resource War in 3-D: Dependence, Diplomacy and Defense, and has contributed to Business Week, the Engineering and Mining Journal and the Washington Times. Fine has testified on strategic natural resources before the U.S. Senate committees on Foreign Affairs and Energy and Natural Resources. In this speech, he discusses "Shale Gas Wars: From Pennsylvania to North Carolina." Fracking's promise of jobs, growth too compelling to ignore By Jon Sanders John Locke Foundation March 9

Daniel Fine discusses North Carolina's approach to shale gas and hydraulic fracturing (two minutes)---> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Lbn9diK1PA

The full one hour video can be seen here-->"North Carolina?s approach to natural gas fracking" ---> http://lockerroom.johnlocke.org/2012/02/27/north-carolinas-approach-to-natural-gas-fracking/

Dr. Daniel I. Fine works with the New Mexico Center for Energy Policy. He is a longtime research associate at the Mining and Minerals Resources Institute, MIT. Fine is also a policy adviser on nonconventional oil and gas. He is co-editor of Resource War in 3-D: Dependence, Diplomacy and Defense, and has contributed to Business Week, the Engineering and Mining Journal and the Washington Times. Fine has testified on strategic natural resources before the U.S. Senate committees on Foreign Affairs and Energy and Natural Resources. In this speech, he discusses "Shale Gas Wars: From Pennsylvania to North Carolina."

The conservative-leaning John Locke Foundation has pledged to support drilling for natural gas in North Carolina and has drawn a line in the sand against a study from Duke University ’s Nicholas School of the Environment that raised concerns about how natural gas is extracted from the ground.

Called hydrofracturing, or “fracking” for short, gas companies blast large volumes of water, sand and chemicals underground to create enough pressure to crack open hydrocarbon-rich shale and extract its embedded natural gas.

A group of Duke researchers last year published a peer-reviewed article in the academic journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences that became one of the most read articles on its website. The study found elevated levels of methane in wells with drinking water close to fracking sites in Pennsylvania.

Daniel Fine, a director at the New Mexico Center for Energy Policy, spoke for about an hour at a regular John Locke Foundation meeting Monday, telling those in attendance that drilling for natural gas was indeed safe. He questioned the Duke study in part by quoting Michael L. Krancer, the secretary of the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, who called the study “statistically and technically biased” in testimony before the subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment, Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure on Nov. 16.

“There is a total rejection of that study,” Fine said Monday.

Despite Fine's assertion, the researchers previously have addressed several of the issues that he brought up. Fine said he and others would help “set up a response” to Duke, environmentalists and the “mass media,” which will mount an “opposition” to hydrofracking in North Carolina.

The researchers previously have said they would welcome further studies. They say they are not anti-fracking, but want to know more about what chemicals are pumped into the ground and what effects the drilling will have on drinking water.

John Locke Foundation, 200 W. Morgan Street, Raleigh, NC 27601

Price: $10.00

Dr. Daniel Fine is a Research Associate at the Mining and Minerals Resources Institute, MIT. Dr. Fine is also a current Policy Adviser on Non-Conventional Oil and Gas. He is co-editor of Resource War in 3-D: Dependence, Diplomacy and Defense, and has contributed to Business Week, the Engineering and Mining Journal and the Washington Times. Dr. Fine participated in the Atlantic Council Workshop on Central Asian Policy and the Hudson Institute Russia-United States Relations Project. He has given testimony on strategic natural resources before the U.S. Senate Committees on Foreign Affairs and the Energy and Natural Resources. Dr. Fine was a member of the Domestic Energy Production Issue Team of the Center For The Study Of The Presidency and Congress "Strengthening America's Future Initiative." He has participated as a panelist on energy public policy at the Rocky Mountain Global New Energy Summit.

Shaftesbury Luncheon talks are free and open to the public. An optional lunch is available for purchase at the event, or participants may brown bag a lunch if they choose.

Purchase Tickets for this Event Online

Tina Pickett Tina Pickett Participants in a recent shale gas energy conference held in Hobbs, New Mexico, referred to a whirlwind trip to Lea County, NM, as “exhausting” but “enlightening.” Bradford County Commissioners Doug McLinko, Mark Smith, and Daryl Miller, Susquehanna County Commissioner Mary Ann Warren and Pennsylvania state Rep. Tina Pickett were among local elected officials to partake in discussions and serve as guests on informative panels.

“It was a very interesting trip, and we came away with a tremendous amount of information,” said Miller. “We spent a fair amount of time with several of their elected officials and local business leaders discussing a wide range of issues that any area involved in energy exploration faces.”

New Mexico, with only two million people compared to Pennsylvania’s 26 million, is a key energy producing state. Lea County has been drilling for oil and gas for more than 70 years, and business is suddenly booming again in light of the technologies that support horizontal drilling and fracking. There is also a uranium plant in the county.

Doug McLinko Doug McLinko “They are very proud of their energy,” said McLinko. “They call it the Energyplex. They were drilling for oil right along the road to town.”

McLinko was among the participants to return with the notion that Pennsylvania counties in the Marcellus shale region may have been better prepared for the gas boom than was initially realized. Challenges such as housing shortages, environmental concerns, regulations, and work force have plagued Hobbs for years, and authorities there haven’t conquered all of their issues, despite being so many years ahead of this area in oil and gas production.

“They are not that diversified in their economies,” said Central Bradford Progress Authority director Tony Ventello. “We have a very diversified economy to begin with, which can be helpful with the swings in the industry. Let’s build on it.”

“You have to be balanced with different kinds of industry. You can’t rely on just the gas industry,” McLinko concurred. “You have to be proactive in planning growth and attracting jobs, not reactive. We’re also in a better position with our regulations than they were when they got started.”

Making sure that the industry progresses within affective guidelines continues to be a priority here, but Ventello and McLinko agree that the emphasis should be on how to sustain the economic momentum generated by the gas boom by taking advantage of the energy that we are producing.

“They demand responsible drilling, but you need to be diverse in your job base,” said McLinko. “We need to be ready to go, so we don’t miss one development opportunity that can add to the tax base and reduce the pressure on landowners.”

“My intention was to look at the value-added natural gas utilization. Let’s not harvest it and let it leave the area,” Ventello added. “Let’s look at natural gas as a feedstock for other development in this area.”

Water conservation and the protection of drinking water is an especially sensitive issue in New Mexico, Miller explained, because the state is more arid to begin with. With more than 50,000 wells drilled, the state has no documented cases of contamination of fresh water wells as a result of fracking.

Ventello, Miller, and Pickett took note that upwards of 35 percent of Lea County’s budget depends on energy production revenue, which has dealt the area some economic blows due to the inconsistency of energy development in the past. The area boasts of low property taxes, but its citizens have endured boom and bust cycles during the three generations of oil production in the Permian basin and gas drilling in the Woodford shale.

“They tax the industry to the point of critics saying they are overtaxing,” related McLinko, who feels that gas companies here are doing a better job at repairing infrastructure than in New Mexico.

Pennsylvania participants found it especially interesting, however, that New Mexico has set aside $12 million from energy revenues in two large funds. The $9 million permanent fund is tapped primarily for educational purposes on a local level, noted Pickett, while Ventello explained that the $3 million capital projects is used state-wide for a variety of projects.

“We generally go out on a bond issue to fuel that type of activity,” Ventello noted. “They have the cash in place. They’re banking that money.”

Conference attendees were addressed by New Mexico’s Lt. Gov. John Sanchez and several members of its legislature, in addition to representatives from their equivalent to Pennsylvania’s Department of Environmental Protection. McLinko related that PA DEP representative Alan Eichler made a poignant presentation on behalf of this area, and Rep. Pickett spoke alongside Sanchez on the second day of the conference.

“We both agreed that a national energy policy for the United States is a critical discussion needed in this upcoming presidential race,” Pickett stated, noting that the current market price of natural gas, compared to other energy sources, will continue to drive the development of the so-called “wet gas” that is extracted from shale for many years to come.

Pickett and McLinko termed the conference “historic” in that it puts Bradford County and the surrounding area in the national spotlight, which is something that McLinko feels could be further developed. From what he learned in New Mexico, he is also certain that now is the time to enhance the tax base here, “not just at the county level, but also in the boroughs and townships.”

Ventello agrees. He noted that there has not been much of an opportunity for debriefing among the participants after the “intensive” conference, but he continues to put the pieces together in hindsight. He looks forward to working with commissioners from Bradford and Susquehanna Counties to find ways “to promote and develop new business opportunities beyond just landowner payments and royalties.”

Ventello also wants to make sure that companies and businesses in this area are reacting and providing products and services that are needed by the gas industry. For example, a large New York-based company has expressed an interest in expanding natural gas energy services. “Susquehanna County has some of the most prolific wells, but they don’t have the infrastructure to use it.”

Pickett is excited about the possibility of last week’s conference leading to a large coalition of the estimated 167 counties across the nation with shale gas. The conference in Hobbs, she noted “was the beginning of a dialogue to bring these counties together in communication to share solutions and problems. The Pennsylvania entourage invited the New Mexico conference participants to visit this area.

“We need to have a better power point to talk about the Bradford County experience as other counties look to us for leadership,” suggested McLinko, who also made it clear that the county did pick up the tab for airfare for the three commissioners to travel to New Mexico. The commissioners did, however, pay for their own lodging and other expenses.

TOWANDA - While Bradford County has experienced extensive gas drilling for a few years, what will it be like after the drilling has gone on for decades?

The three Bradford County commissioners and other local officials had a chance to get a sense of what could happen when they traveled last week to participate in a two-day conference in Lea County, N.M.

Lea County's economy had been based for decades on natural gas production, although in the last decade its economy has diversified to include other forms of energy, such as nuclear, solar, and wind, the Bradford County commissioners said.

The conference, which was titled "Shale Gas & Conventional Gas: From Pennsylvania to New Mexico," discussed the issues surrounding the development of shale gas using Lea County, N.M., and Bradford County, Pa., as case studies, according to the Economic Development Corporation of Lea County, which co-sponsored the conference.

Lea County's population is about the same size as Bradford County's, but its economy is dependent solely on energy production, Bradford County Commissioner Daryl Miller said.

The Bradford County commissioners discussed the trip at the commissioners' meeting on Thursday, and both commissioners Doug McLinko and Mark Smith said it was worthwhile to travel to New Mexico.

McLinko said the trip reinforced for him the belief that Bradford County needs to do more to be ready to take advantage of opportunities to bring long-term jobs to the county, such as the planned Moxie Energy gas-fired electric power plant in Asylum Township. The Moxie Energy plant will bring a significant number of long-term jobs to the county, he said.

"They (Lea County officials) are very aggressive with their (economic) development (efforts)" to keep and attract long-term jobs, he said, adding that Lea County needed to broaden the base of their economy so that they were not tied to the ups and downs of the natural gas industry.

Among the measures that Lea County has taken are to purchase and lease thousands of acres of land, and Lea County is bringing infrastructure to that land, such as municipal water and electrical service, in an effort to attract industry to locate on the property, McLinko said. By controlling those thousands of acres of land, Lea County can offer attractive terms to the businesses that consider moving there, said Bradford County Economic Development Manager Lauren Hotaling, who also attended the conference.

McLinko said he does not want Bradford County to buy or lease land to attract businesses. But he said that townships, boroughs, and private property owners in Bradford County need to take steps to make sure there is land available for businesses or industry to move to, and that that land is ready with the infrastructure they need, such as municipal water and sewer, as well as any zoning provisions.

"When you get an opportunity for development, you can't lag behind, because we are in competition with other states," he said.

However, Hotaling said one problem with attracting businesses and industry to Bradford County is that there is a limited area in the county that has the kind of infrastructure that many large businesses are looking for, such as municipal water and municipal sewer.

And in the locations where municipal water and sewer exists or will soon exist, such as Route 6 in Wysox Township, the land is expensive to buy, she said.

There is even a lack of natural gas distribution lines in Bradford County that could supply these large businesses, she said.

Just as is the case in Bradford County, hotels in Lea County are used by workers in the energy extraction industry, namely gas and oil drilling, Hotaling said.

But Lea County has secured a use for its hotels which will buffer them against the ups and downs in gas and oil drilling. Specifically, Lea County has become a training center for Homeland Security, she said. The training has resulted in the construction of three or four additional hotels in Lea County, she said.

Hotaling also said that New Mexico's state budget is heavily dependant on revenue from the gas and oil industry.

The gas and oil industry provides over 26 percent of New Mexico's state funds, she said.

New Mexico has a state severance tax on gas and oil, she said. New Mexico also gets a significant amount of revenue from lease bonuses and royalties on state-owned land, she said.

Among the local officials who traveled to the conference were state Rep. Tina Pickett, Progress Authority Executive Director Tony Ventello, and Mark Madden of Penn State Cooperative Extension.

Bradford County paid the airfare to the conference for the three Bradford County commissioners, according to Bradford County Fiscal Director Joan Sanderson.

The Progress Authority paid for lodging and meals for the three Bradford County commissioners while they were in New Mexico, Hotaling said.

James Loewenstein can be reached at (570) 265-1633; or email: jloewenstein@thedailyreview.com.

January 12-13, 2012, Lea County Event Center, Hobbs, NM, EnergyPlex Conference Series 2012 HOBBS, N.M., Dec. 20, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- On January 12 and 13, the Economic Development Corporation of Lea County and the New Mexico Tech University's New Mexico Center for Energy Policy will kick off the EnergyPlex Conference 2012 Series with Shale Gas & Conventional Gas: From Pennsylvania to New Mexico. This conference will discuss the issues surrounding the development of shale gas using Lea County, NM and Bradford County, PA as case studies. Panelists will address the state and national economic implications of shale and conventional oil and long-term planning strategies. Keynote speakers for lunch sessions will include U.S. Congressman Steve Pearce on Thursday and Pennsylvania State Representative Tina Pickett and New Mexico Lt. Governor John Sanchez on Friday. Panel discussions will be comprised of industry experts and government officials who will present information on topics including: Shale Gas: A Technology Play that Changed Scarcity to Plenty; Shale Gas: Regulation and Opposition; and Natural Gas in Two Counties: Organizing for Long-Term Economic Development and Public Benefits. "The purpose of this conference is to bring together shale gas and conventional gas producing counties to discuss the opportunities and challenges of the regulations, economics and energy security surrounding this natural resource," says conference co-organizer, Lisa Hardison, President and CEO of the Economic Development Corporation of Lea County. Dr. Daniel Fine, Research Associate for the New Mexico Center for Energy Policy/ New Mexico Tech and co-organizer of the conference adds, "Another important element of this conference examines how new innovations in technology to produce shale gas can lower energy costs for consumers and create productive jobs." Douglas McLinko, County Commission Chair for Bradford County Pennsylvania further explains that this conference "is an exciting first step towards creating a national core of county leadership focused on shale and conventional gas." Participants can register for the conference through the www.energyplexnm.com website. A registration fee of $50 covers entrance into the conference, meeting materials, and two lunches. For more information about the conference, to see a full agenda, and to register, please visit www.energyplexnm.com. Conference Dates January 12, 2012, 7:45 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. January 13, 2012, 9:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. Lea County Event Center 5105 N Lovington Hwy • Hobbs, NM 88240 USA On the Web: www.energyplexnm.com SOURCE Economic Development Corporation of Lea County Back to top RELATED LINKS http://www.energyplexnm.com

The United States has a monopoly on “hydro-fracing” technology. The technology, short for hydraulic fracturing, releases natural gas trapped in shale deposits by injecting the deposits with high-pressure water mixed with sand and small amounts of chemical additives.

According to Dr. Fine, the “cloud over gas” used to be “do we have enough gas?” In 2003, Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan declared that the United States did not have enough natural gas, and that it would be necessary to import liquid natural gas (LNG). This, said Dr. Fine, was clearly a mistake in the light of the new hydro-facing technology, not only because importing LNG poses a security risk to the United States, but because tapping natural gas from shale represents an economic “bonanza” in “the most [economically] repressed parts of the country:” western New York, western Pennsylvania and West Virginia, areas which suffer from high rates of unemployment, and are estimated to host 490 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. The thousands of jobs that could be created in these areas could stand in the way of President Obama’s pursuit of subsidies for renewable energy.

Substitution away from imported gas by the United States will impact Russia, the world’s largest exporter of natural gas, where gas production is controlled almost exclusively by government-run Gazprom. Moreover, Chevron has signed an agreement with Poland to search for and extract natural gas there, and similar arrangements have apparently been made in Romania. “When Chevron announces that they have gas [in Poland],” Dr. Fine said, “then Russia is shut out,” and will no longer be able to act as a near-monopoly supplier of gas in Eastern Europe.

Seeing the threat to Russia’s interests, Dr. Fine suggested that Putin has de facto “joined the friends of the Earth,” claiming that hydro-facing will lead to problems with water supply. Beyond that, however, Dr. Fine pointed out that Gazprom has recently acquired the largest gas field in Russia that was not already under its control, and that the location of this field, outside of Irkutsk, near the border with China, gives a clear indication of the direction that Russian policy is headed.

“China is moving towards a gas economy rapidly” to get away from the images and problems associated of coal, said Dr. Fine. China is well aware that its reliance on coal, and the emissions associated with it, not only present an environmental and health threat to its own population, but that China is vulnerable to increasing attacks from Western environmentalist groups as climate change becomes a more prominent political issue. China does not have large gas deposits of its own, and so, Dr Fine suggested, will want to take advantage of Russia’s weaker position vis-à-vis Europe, to demand not only lower gas prices, but also the ability to purchase equity in Russian gas fields, something China has not yet been allowed to do.

Returning to address some of the environmental concerns surrounding shale gas extraction, Dr. Fine said that, in light of the jobs that will be created , and in light of the economic advantages of natural gas—which is cheaper than either coal or nuclear power, and far less expensive than any current renewable technology—it will be politically difficult for any administration to challenge shale gas unless it can be conclusively shown to have adverse environmental effects that outweigh the benefits. Shale gas wells, Dr. Fine said, are only used when an impermeable rock layer surrounds them, so that none of the estimated 5.5 million gallons of water used for extraction can seep into the groundwater. In addition, most wells can recycle their water, and ultimately, “use less water than an average golf course.”

Finally, Dr. Fine predicted that we are not, in fact, entering an era of “peak oil,” that with the new production coming from the Iraqi oilfields, and with new natural gas deposits replacing other petroleum fuels, we can expect to see a decline in world oil prices. He predicted that on April 1, 2017 in Medford, Massachusetts, gasoline will cost barely over $1/gallon at the pump. Whether that prediction proves true or not, it certainly provides something to think about.

Energy Security and the Regulation Imperative in a New Economic Era

Did the economic crisis stabilize oil prices? What is the future of energy security? Has China bypassed the United States in the green energy revolution? How will the global community approach the “fourth corridor” pipeline in relation to Iranian power and Russian resurgence?

Dr. Daniel Fine, research associate at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Mining and Minerals Resources Institute, addressed a diverse set of energy-related questions at The Fletcher School on September 15. The presentation was part of the International Security Studies Program Global Speaker Series.

Dr. Fine indicated that Saudi Arabia views the current price of oil, roughly $70-75 per barrel, as reflecting a price that is both fair and natural. The 2007-2008 price spike, which increased the per barrel price 220% over its 2005 level, was accompanied by a mere 2.5% increase in consumption. According to Dr. Fine, this undermines the oft-cited argument that consumption spikes drive price increases.

The real story of runaway oil prices, Dr. Fine said, lies in the enormous amount of available credit in the 2007-2008, which allowed speculators to buy and hold massive reserves, disturbing traditional forces of supply and demand. Combined with a global finance system that neglected deposits and encouraged rampant buying and a lack of regulation, this perfect storm brought the financial world to its knees in September 2008.

As the global economy shows signs of recovery, Dr. Fine urged the audience to ignore speculators. So-called “geopolitical analysts” on major news shows, he said, are often self-interested frauds with no actual training in geopolitics, serving only to promote a product (oil, gas, or energy) and make faulty predictions.

In the framework of energy security, Dr. Fine cited President Obama’s speeches in Cairo and on Wall Street, as evidence of the administration’s movement away from hard power “oil politics” and toward Joseph Nye’s conception of soft power. Dr. Fine cited President Obama’s Cairo speech as the backbone of a new regional policy in which the United States will move away from energy independence and toward energy interdependence, working alongside the global community and with regulators to ensure transparency.

The new geopolitics, Dr. Fine noted, focus on the location of and environment that surrounds oil supplies. He indicated that this symbolizes a shift from “great salesmanship” to true political geography with an associated acknowledgement of the reality of sector specific risk. In this context, Dr. Fine discussed the “fourth corridor” pipeline route, popularly known as Nabucco, which will stretch across the Caspian Sea to Austria. Turkey’s attempts to claim 15% of the overall revenue would, if successful, render the proposed pipeline uneconomic, while the tumult in Georgia poses enormous political risk to the project. Russia, which holds a virtual monopoly on European natural gas supply and is dabbling anew in great power politics, is vehemently opposed to Nabucco. This is one of the reasons, Dr. Fine stressed, that Russia does not want to see regime change in Iran; the current anti-Western hard line ensures Iran’s illegitimacy in the West and thus prevents Iranian oil sales to Western powers.

Dr. Fine also touched on China and its crucial coal factor. China will inevitability decline the carbon emissions cap to be proposed at COP15, and India, along with other developing powers, will follow suit in rejecting emissions caps. But Dr. Fine argued that China’s emphasis on carbon capture synchronization, or CCS, demonstrates its relative advantage over the West in certain green energy issues.

Dr. Fine concluded by citing President Obama’s recent hard-line regulation speech on Wall Street as an outline of future policy. If regulation fails, Dr. Fine indicated it is likely that a pricing bubble will return in concert with a buying surge. But with regulation, and with stringent enforcement by both the U.S. and Europe, a permanent cap on oil prices can be established that will maintain transparency and coincide with the fair and natural price. Elise Crane, F11

Cap and trade legislation may be one of the biggest issues facing the oil and gas industry according to Dr. Daniel Fine, Associate of Policy, Strategy and Development at New Mexico Tech. He also serves on the New Mexico Center for Energy Policy which is hosting the presentation by former Shell Oil executive, John Hofmeister tonight.

“What is the purpose to cap and trade?” asks Fine. “Is the purpose to raise revenue? Is the purpose to lower CO2? Or both?” The bill (Waxman-Markey) coming out of the U.S. House of Representatives claims both purposes without a clear policy declaration.

The bill is now in the hands of the U.S. Senate.

Fine says determining the price or cost for one metric ton of carbon dioxide is the biggest omission in the bill that needs to be addressed before moving forward.

“What is the trigger price which would affect an investment from the utilities and others to move towards low carbon technology? How much should CO2 cost before it triggers a corporate strategic decision to invest in technology which would lower the greenhouse gas emissions?” asks Fine.

Without the price per ton of CO2, nothing can be implemented.

The house version has been worked over in the Senate with many changes. Fine says in the House bill, only 2% of the allowances (or credits) have been awarded to the oil and gas industry as opposed to 37% to the utility industry. “The Senate is currently looking at that in terms of equity,” said Fine.

Also there is no reference in that bill in support of nuclear energy.

“Nuclear energy, in terns of cap and trade, is a central part of the issue because it is emissions free,” added Fine.

Recognition of that in terms of allowances and credits would put nuclear energy in the forefront of greenhouse gas emissions reduction.

It would also assist the nuclear energy industry in rewards to financing new reactors. They could capitalize the credits to assist the bottom line.

The omission of nuclear energy in the House should be subject to discussion and debate in the Senate, says Fine.

Fine thinks a cap and trade bill, in some form, will be out soon and will probably be a moderate or reasonable version of the House bill. It will be less costly, more reasonable and an adjusted timeline for the implementation of it.

Fine says the focus on cap and trade creates a “a potential to reexamine the oil and gas industry, particularly the gas production.”

“There is growing recognition that the discovery, exploration and production of new gas, particularly shale gas, has changed supply and demand and put natural gas in a surplus position in the United States. In that way, the gas producers would be qualified as a low carbon or lower carbon emissions source than coal. So I think there is a changing dynamic of recognition of the gas industry based on the new surplus expected from shale gas,” Fine added.