Weekly John Locke Foundation research division newsletter focusing on environmental issues.
This newsletter highlights relevant analysis done by the JLF and other think tanks as well as items in the news.
1. Who is Ron Binz, and how might he matter to North Carolina?
For several years now, the big topic when it comes to the energy industry in North Carolina has been natural gas exploration and the use of hydraulic fracturing (fracking) techniques for extracting gas from shale. There are thought to be large deposits of shale gas that could be accessed using fracking in parts of North Carolina, particularly in Moore and Lee Counties. For many years, fracking has been banned in the state, denying landowners the right to use their land as they wish by exploiting these resources. (In last week’s newsletter,we explored the property rights issues that have been part of the fracking debate.)
The state’s ban on fracking has now been lifted, and it is likely that permits will be issued to explore for and extract natural gas once an acceptable set of regulations are put in place. But President Obama’s latest nomination to chair the obscure Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), typically thought of as the agency that oversees things like electricity transmission and natural gas pipelines, apparently would like to put an end to all this.
His name is Ron Benz, and he is a radical environmentalist who sees the carbon dioxide associated with using natural gas for power generation as a showstopper when it comes to expanding natural gas usage. As quoted in this Wall Street Journal editorial (log in required) — apparently confusing carbon with carbon dioxide — Benz states that "On a carbon basis you hit the wall in 2035 or so with gas. I mean, you do." While what he means by hitting a wall is not clear, he does go on to say that "I think that’s a dead end, a relative dead end — it won’t dead end until 2035 or so. But that’s when we need to do better on carbon than even natural gas will allow us to do under current assumptions…we’re going to have to make these reductions in carbon."
If the Obama administration pursues a war on gas the way it has with coal, what would be at a "dead end" is North Carolina’s potential natural gas boom.
For further insight regarding Benz and his views, be sure to watch this WSJ video interview with editorial writer Joe Rego.
2. 2013 Ozone Report — A record best year is all but certain
The 2013 ozone season began on April 1 and will end October 31. As in the past, each week during the ozone — often called smog — season, this newsletter will report how many, if any, high ozone days have been experienced throughout the state during the previous week, where they were experienced, and how many have been recorded during the entire season to date. According to current EPA standards, a region or county experiences a high ozone day if a monitor in that area registers the amount of ozone in the air as 76 parts per billion (ppb) or greater. As noted, the official ozone season will end on October 31. What this means is that North Carolina is less than 3 weeks away from having the best ozone season on record.
During the period from September 30 to October 6, there were no high ozone days recorded. For the state as a whole, there has been only 1 high ozone day on one monitor recorded in 2013. All reported data is preliminary and issued by the North Carolina Division of Air Quality, which is part of the state’s Department of Environment and Natural Resources.
The table below shows all of North Carolina’s ozone monitors and the number of high ozone days for the week and the year to date.
