In this issue:
- My message to Kamala Harris on fracking
- EnergyTalkingPoints.com
- Mark Mills on our energy future and why it isn’t “renewable”
- A reader’s letter to ExxonMobil
My message to Kamala Harris on fracking
Since the new Democratic VP candidate, Kamala Harris, has endorsed a ban on fracking, I decided to create a Twitter thread sharing my new talking points on fracking from EnergyTalkingPoints.com. Here it is.
Quick summary
- Many politicians, including Joe Biden, support banning fracking–on federal lands or altogether. But fracking is required to produce over 60% of American oil and 75% of American natural gas. A frack ban is the single fastest way to create a global recession and an American depression.
- Oil is the world’s source of energy because it provides low-cost, highly-concentrated energy for transportation. Oil provides 90% of the world’s transportation energy and has no scalable substitute for airplanes, cargo ships, and large agricultural equipment.
- Fracking has taken us from a huge net importer of oil to a net exporter. In 2007, the US imported over 400 million gallons of oil per day. Last September, for the first time since records began in 1973, the US was a net oil exporter–a trend energy officials expect to continue.
- A ban on fracking would take the same percentage of oil off the market as the 1973 Arab oil embargo did. That incident more than quadrupled oil prices and triggered a global recession. A smaller oil incident in 1979 also triggered a global recession.
- Smart politicians know that restricting oil production = recession or worse. That’s why Barack Obama ran on ending “the tyranny of oil” but then ended the oil export ban and took credit for the fracking revolution: “America’s like the biggest oil producer…that was me, people.”
- Fracking has added over 100 billion gallons of oil to annual oil production. And it has added even more energy in the form of natural gas–the equivalent of almost 200 billion gallons of oil a year!
- Between 2008 and 2018 fracking natural gas added 17 times more energy to the US than all solar panels and wind turbines combined. And that’s 100% reliable energy, unlike the unreliable energy from solar and wind that needs constant backup from…fracked natural gas.
- Does fracking endanger groundwater? Fracking is one of the world’s safest industrial practices for groundwater because it takes place a mile below groundwater. The biggest threat to groundwater is Mother Nature, who contaminates it with methane, arsenic, uranium, and salt.
- Fracking, like many industrial activities, creates small earth movements–not dangerous earthquakes. A typical frack job moves the ground less than a semi truck driving down the road.
- Because fracking is so vital to our lives and can be done safely and responsibly, it would be insane and cruel to ban fracking. We should continue to ban only dangerous misuses of fracking and otherwise continue to enjoy the prosperity this wonderful technology brings us.
EnergyTalkingPoints.com progress, how you can help
Last week I shared EnergyTalkingPoints.com, where I am putting a growing library of short, powerful, and carefully-referenced talking points that any pro-freedom candidate or citizen can use.
Here’s one of the enthusiastic responses I’ve gotten since then, from the campaign manager of a Congressional campaign:
“[Y]our talking points are so thorough…We’re going to work these into our messaging on energy and the environment. Much appreciated!”
Help me share these talking points by
- Sharing them with campaigns you’re connected to and encourage those campaigns to talk to me.
- Share them on social media.
- Share them with coworkers and employees.
- Share them with programs you like and encourage the hosts to invite me on.
From now until the election I’m making myself available for media interviews or debates about energy.
Tomorrow I’ll be taping an episode of the popular Charlie Kirk show and next week I’ll be on the Dennis Prager Show.
For more on EnergyTalkingPoints.com, check out this week’s Power Hour, where I share some of the progress of the last week and share ideas for how you can help.
You can watch on YouTube or listen on Apple Podcasts.
Thanks for reading this week’s newsletter.
As you can probably tell I’m very focused on EnergyTalkingPoints.com since it’s the most scalable way I can think of to influence energy thinking this election season. I’m also continuing to spend about 4 hours a day editing The Moral Case for Fossil Fuels 2.0. Thanks to the Accelerators who help support these projects.
To Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Energy,
Alex