The Gas Industry’s Awkward Dance
During the gas drilling ordinance rewrite process, I have attempted to stay above the fray, if you will. After all, as a city council member, I will have sufficient opportunity to chime in and contribute to the end-product once the process has run its course. But sometimes, out of concern for the education of our citizenry and the transparency of our people and processes, things just need to be brought to light…
As many of you already know, Ed Ireland, Executive Director of the Barnett Shale Energy Education Council, an industry funded pro-drilling apologetics organization, has been the most controversial member of the city’s official drilling task force – controversial both because of his connection to the drilling industry and because of his non-Denton citizen status. I have taken much criticism for his presence on this task force and have even defended having industry representatives at the table, arguing that a rigorous debate on such matters is healthy in a democracy when such matters are debated openly and publicly. This is why I have insisted on the open and public nature of the drilling task force meetings. Open and public dialogue allows everyone to see the arguments, observe the positions, and see the people from whom they come. It also allows you to identify complete BS when you see it.
During one of the deliberations on air quality, a recommendation was made to require drilling operations to utilize “green completion” technology in order to capture otherwise vented or flared natural gas upon completion of the drilling process. Ed Ireland voted against this recommendation. Fair enough – he was quite clear about his stance of rejecting most regulations on gas drilling activities.
I can appreciate consistency, even if I disagree with it. But in the aftermath of the recent EPA announcement that the agency would start requiring such technology in 2015, Mr. Ireland is quoted taking a very different perspective on the issue in this little story in the Dallas Business Journal…
“Officials in the industry say the new requirements already are standard practice in the Barnett Shale of North Texas… Producers in the Barnett Shale routinely use “green completions” to capture the gas, said Ed Ireland, director of the Barnett Shale Energy Education Council. Green completions involve using extra equipment to capture the gas and feed it into the pipeline system.”
A critic of this technology one day, a champion of it the next! How do we account for this obvious inconsistency?
The pro-drilling apologists have a difficult job nowadays. The slow creep of natural gas drilling into urban and residential areas has resulted in widespread concern over this industry’s impact on the environment and public health. To combat this concern, the industry has invested millions of dollars in TV, web, radio, and print advertising attempting to convince us that natural gas drilling is actually really good for the earth and our health. Check out this video as an example. At the same time, because profit is their ultimate interest, the industry is also intent on fighting reasonable regulations meant to protect the health and safety of the citizens living on top of these shale formations. They are in the awkward situation of trying to promote their environmental initiatives on the national stage while simultaneously actively fighting against them in local governments around the country. Thus the inconsistencies – the ol’ Texas two-step.
The industry and the people like Ed Ireland who work for it hope that you aren’t quick enough to catch on to their inconsistencies. Unfortunately for them, they’re pretty bad dancers.