Trump administration emphasizes need for energy infrastructure
The Hill recently reported President Trump is expected to make a “renewed push” to permit and build oil and natural gas pipelines next year, according to his top economic adviser Larry Kudlow. The article writes, “the need for pipeline is especially strong in the natural gas industry, where drillers, thanks to the boom in fracking and horizontal drilling, are producing more gas than there is pipeline capacity to carry.”
The lack of pipelines is so great in certain regions that drillers have resorted to “flaring,” or burning, large amounts of excess natural gas. To complicate the bottleneck even more, ongoing pipeline projects, from Louisiana to North Dakota, from Ohio to Texas, have faced a number of hurdles. These hurdles include vigilante activists, legal challenges, and strict state regulations.
The US government must promote investment in our critical energy infrastructure and ensure regulatory certainty. Strong energy infrastructure is key to delivering reliable, affordable energy products to consumers across the country. Pipelines have also played a critical role in the US’ record-amount of oil and natural gas exports. GAIN recognizes the President’s prioritization of strengthening American energy and the continued need for modern energy infrastructure.
