Excerpts from the July 19th Wall Street Journal

So What’s the Matter with Shale Gas Anyway? Environmental Groups Want It to Replace Coal, but Not at the Expense of Wind and Solar

“Shale gas and oil are widely viewed as one of the biggest forces to hit the US economy in modern history … The new narrative about shale gas is about jobs, economic growth, global competitiveness and a US manufacturing renaissance …  For years, environmental groups saw gas as something as an ally in the cause.  Gas has half the carbon footprint as coal.  It was the ideal substitute for coal and a bridge to greater use of renewable energy such as wind and solar.  But as shale gas production soared, the price of natural gas plummeted.  Environmental groups now worry that gas is moving in to stay, taking the momentum out of the shift to nonpolluting renewables.”