In the News

Former Homeland Security Chief Tom Ridge knows a lot about protecting America, which is why he believes America’s natural gas reserves – multiplied in recent years by innovations in shale gas production – are so important. About half of the oil the U.S. imports comes from less-than-secure sources, creating vulnerability, Ridge said at last week’s inaugural Shale Gas Insight conference in Philadelphia.

In the Wall Street Journal, Lucian Pugliaresi asks a good question about the recent National Petroleum Council report’s point that U.S. oil production could double by 2035 to 20 million barrels per day: Where’s all that oil going to come from? His answer includes a critical lesson as we think about America’s energy future.

In Steubenville, Ohio, they’re talking about job growth so dynamic that every adult in town could be working by April. In Bismarck, N.D., unemployment is a microscopic 3 percent. In both, oil and natural gas development is a key driving force.

The New York Times’ Paul Krugman likes solar energy. Lots of folks do. Here’s a post from The Times’ Green blog about Chevron’s Brightfields solar project in California.