Manhattan Institute. July 2012.
The United States, Canada, and Mexico are awash in hydrocarbon resources: oil, natural gas, and coal. The total North American hydrocarbon resource base is more than four times greater than all the resources extant in the Middle East. And the U.S. alone is now the fastest-growing producer of oil and natural gas in the world. The recent growth in hydrocarbons production has already generated hundreds of thousands of jobs and billions in local tax receipts by unlocking billions of barrels of oil and natural gas in the hydrocarbon-dense shales of North Dakota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, and several other states, as well as the vast resources of Canada’s oil sands. [Note: contains copyrighted material].
http://www.manhattan-institute.org/pdf/pgi_01.pdf [PDF format, 24 pages].
The Hamilton Project and The Brookings Institution. June 2012.
According to the authors, the United States is in the midst of one of the most significant transformations in the energy sector in many decades. This transformation is the result of the development of new recovery techniques, such as hydraulic fracturing (fracking), that have unlocked massive supplies of previously unrecoverable fossil fuels, primarily natural gas and, to a lesser degree, petroleum. Since 2007, natural gas supplies and production in the United States have increased dramatically, and the price of natural gas-powered energy has plummeted. Only a few years ago, many in the United States were concerned about the prospects of dwindling supplies of natural gas in North America; today, how to manage vast new reserves must be determined. The implications of this natural gas revolution will be profound and are only now coming into focus. [Note: contains copyrighted material].
http://www.brookings.edu/~/media/research/files/papers/2012/6/13%20energy%20greenstone%20looney/06_energy_greenstone_looney.pdf [PDF format, 24 pages].
The Hamilton Project and The Brookings Institution. June 2012.
A surge in low-cost U.S. natural gas production has prompted a flurry of proposals to export liquefied natural gas (LNG). A string of permit applications are now pending at the Department of Energy (DOE), and more can be expected; lawmakers are also debating the wisdom of allowing LNG exports. This paper proposes a framework for assessing the merits of allowing LNG exports along six dimensions: macroeconomic (including output, jobs, and balance of trade), distributional, oil security, climate change, foreign and trade policy, and local environment. Evaluating the possibility of exports along all six dimensions, it finds that the likely benefits of allowing exports outweigh the costs of explicitly constraining them, provided that appropriate environmental protections are in place. [Note: contains copyrighted material].
http://www.brookings.edu/~/media/research/files/papers/2012/6/13%20exports%20levi/06_exports_levi.pdf [PDF format, 36pages].
The White House. March 12, 2012.
One year ago, the President put forward a comprehensive plan in the Blueprint for a Secure Energy Future that outlined the Administration’s all-of-the-above approach to American energy – a strategy aimed at reducing reliance on foreign oil, saving families and businesses money at the pump, and positioning the United States as the global leader in clean energy. This new progress report showcases the Administration’s historic achievements in each of these areas. The accomplishments in this report, which represent the efforts of six Federal agencies, underscore the Administration’s commitment over the past three years to promoting an all-hands-on-deck, all-of-the-above approach to American energy and building a more secure energy future.
http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/email-files/the_blueprint_for_a_secure_energy_future_oneyear_progress_report.pdf [PDF format, 20 pages].
Natural Resources Defense Council. March 2012.
Natural gas development has exploded at break-neck speed in recent years, fueled by advancements in an extraction technique known as hydraulic fracturing—or fracking—that has allowed the oil and gas industry to access previously out-of-reach reserves. Unfortunately, federal and state safeguards to protect people and the environment from the hazards of fracking have not kept pace. As a result, this development has proved dangerous, destructive, and polluting. [Note: contains copyrighted material].
http://www.nrdc.org/energy/files/frackingrisks.pdf [PDF format, 4 pages].
