America's Unconventional Energy Opportunity

Bottom Line: America’s unconventional oil and gas resource is a potential win-win for the economy and environment. Common ground must be established between industry and climate groups. It is the job of policymakers to help foster this partnership by taking immediate steps today that combine the concerns of both groups.  

Exploiting unconventional oil and gas (e.g., shale natural gas, tight crude oil) is perhaps the largest opportunity to improve the trajectory of the U.S. economy. This is especially true since it comes at a time when the prospects for the average American are the weakest in generations. The newfound hydrocarbon abundance can restore U.S. competitiveness and also offer key geopolitical advantages for the country.

Yet to be sure, these benefits can only be achieved while substantially mitigating local environmental impact and speeding up the transition to a cleaner energy future that is both practical and affordable. It is only striking this balance of economic and environmental interests that will make unconventional oil and gas a win-win for the American people.

Unfortunately, the U.S. is caught in an unproductive, divisive, and typically misinformed debate about unconventional oil and gas that threatens the nation’s goals on economy and climate. We simply must set a new path forward. Those opposing this evolution not only disrupt our chance of achieving a win-win pathway but they also undermine the interests across the wide spectrum of stakeholder groups.

The present analysis therefore contributes by offering a strategy for industry, NGOs, and policymakers to collaborate and advance America’s unconventional energy opportunity forward. As a few examples, oil and gas companies must recognize the legitimate interests of environmental and climate stakeholders; environmental and climate NGOs must realize the ongoing economic value that unconventional oil and gas can offer the country; and governments must help establish common ground between both groups.  

Unconventional energy development should not just be a Republican platform plank, nor should environmental and climate protection just be a Democratic platform plank. Both parties can start to take immediate constructive and needed actions. This begins with a three-pronged approach to better enforce infrastructure permitting timelines, support environmental enforcement capacity, and establish methane leakage rules that actually benefit both the environment and industry.

Read the full study here.