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Urges Deep Cuts in U.S. Methane from Gas to Maximize Climate Benefit

A new issue brief authored by the Progressive Policy Institute’s Paul Bledsoe argues the United States can help become a clean energy superpower by leveraging both green innovations and exports of low-emitting U.S.-made natural gas. The issue brief is the first of a series authored by Mr. Bledsoe on the role of U.S. natural gas in the ongoing domestic and global clean energy transition, and is titled “The Climate Case for Expanding U.S. Natural Gas Exports.”

“The policy question for America is: Can and should the U.S. systemically produce and export more gas to reduce domestic and global emissions? This study suggests the answer is emphatically: Yes,” writes report author Paul Bledsoe. “But achieving large security, economic, and climate benefits from increased gas production will require additional actions by the U.S., the industry, our allies, and even coal-consuming nations, especially major reductions of methane emissions.”

Key policy recommendations from the issue brief include:

• Increase Domestic Gas Production
• Double U.S. Gas Exports
• Cut Life Cycle Methane Emissions from Oil and Gas to 0.3%
• Retire Coal Plants More Quickly
• Improve Gas Infrastructure
• Set Goal of Zero-Net Emissions from Gas by 2040
• Establish Accurate Global Methane Emissions Data Center; and
• Urge Gas-Importing Nations to Establish Methane Emissions Content Standards

Read and download the full report:

The Progressive Policy Institute will be releasing a series of issue briefs on key topics supporting the policy recommendations outlined in this report in the coming weeks, including briefs on how the entrenchment of global coal power locks in record global emissions; Europe’s continuing need for U.S. LNG to displace the use of coal and Russian-exported gas; the actions needed to increase U.S. natural gas production and exports; and how reducing methane and CO2 from U.S. natural gas will maximize climate benefits.

Paul Bledsoe is a strategic adviser at the Progressive Policy Institute and a professorial lecturer at American University’s Center for Environmental Policy. He served on the White House Climate Change Task Force under President Clinton, at the U.S. Department of the Interior, as a staff member at the Senate Finance Committee and for several members of the U.S. House of Representatives. Read his full biography here.

The Progressive Policy Institute (PPI) is a catalyst for policy innovation and political reform based in Washington, D.C., with offices in Brussels and Berlin. Its mission is to create radically pragmatic ideas for moving America beyond ideological and partisan deadlock. Learn more about PPI by visiting progressivepolicy.org.

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