This pipeline moves methane gas from the Frank R. Bowerman landfill to an onsite power plant in Irvine, Calif.

This pipeline moves methane gas from the Frank R. Bowerman landfill to an onsite power plant in Irvine, Calif.

The economic fallout of our ban on imports of Russian oil and natural gas, has hurt Americans at the pump and increased heating bills. Recent polling has most voters pinning the blame on Biden. This should hopefully put a pause on the American eco-left’s ability to tear down domestic oil and natural gas industries. Encouraging rather than punishing production is not only important for those in the developing world but also necessary for the bank accounts of millions of struggling Americans. While negative environmental consequences of fossil fuel production like methane are a concerning reality, top-down policies like a methane tax always get passed down to the consumer. Fortunately, we can address these concerns with market solutions rather than regulatory punishment.

The methane fees proposed in President Biden’s “Build Back Better” would have increased “natural gas bills from 12 percent to 34 percent,” as estimated by the American Gas Association. This would have come when the Federal government estimates that the average price of natural gas for 2022 will be at an eight-year high. Another tactic the eco-left is using is mandating the electrification of new buildings, with the goal of essentially suffocating natural gas out of the electricity mix. A number of cities in the United States have some form of natural gas ban and some states are moving toward other restrictions. The California Energy Commission approved a building code making electric appliances “preferred technology” for new construction starting in 2023. These policies will have serious impacts on the cost of living and no politician should take them lightly, but many Democrats think it’s necessary without even recognizing the fact that methane is a solvable issue.

Don’t get me wrong — methane is a major issue. According to the Environmental Defense Fund, “Methane has more than 80 times the warming power of carbon dioxide over the first 20 years. … At least 25% of today’s warming is driven by methane from human actions.” But methane doesn’t stay in the atmosphere nearly as long as carbon dioxide, a feature that makes this an easier issue to address.

At COP26, Biden co-sponsored the Global Methane Pledge to cut methane emissions 30% by 2030, and while these pledges are mostly symbolic and ineffective, getting all countries on board with methane reduction is absolutely necessary. A logically consistent message should be to utilize the power of global markets to incentivize methane abatement, rather than trying to regulate fossil fuels out of existence.

As interest in bitcoin has skyrocketed, so has public scrutiny of the amount of energy required to mine it. So crypto mining companies have looked for ways to increase their energy efficiency, and some saw an opportunity in capturing methane gas from oil production. For example, Denver-based startup Crusoe Energy Systems targets flaring at natural gas wells and pipelines that would normally go into the atmosphere and converts the recovered gas into electricity to power energy-intensive crypto mining. With computer centers the size of shipping containers, these are smaller than traditional crypto operations, which gives them the advantage to scale and deploy to natural gas operations all over. This is just one example of how the free-market system has been able to address concerns about global warming.

Another Denver-based company, Project Canary, is pioneering the use of real-time, continuous air emissions monitoring. One of the best examples of how this works is a multi-company project in Colorado Springs. Bayswater drills for natural gas, which is processed by Rimrock Energy Partners, then delivered to Kinder Morgan which finally transports the gas to Colorado Springs Utilities. Project Canary has a network of solar powered air quality monitoring units spread throughout the Colorado Springs project. These units provide real-time data captured and stored on the “Canary Cloud.”

This is a dramatic improvement from the previous system where reporting of emissions and air quality was based on estimates. A move to real-time monitoring provides companies the information they need to quickly detect, locate, and fix leaks. Because of Project Canary a homeowner heating their home or a chef cooking in a restaurant can know that they are using Responsibly Sourced Gas (RSG). This acronym means that a utility company has completed third-party certification that it has used the highest standards in delivering a molecule of gas from the drilling rig to the burner tip.

I live in Colorado, and natural gas provides one-fourth the electricity in the state and is a dependable source of warmth during cold winter days. There are also multiple companies in the state providing free market solutions for reducing methane emissions. This is a better alternative than taxing or banning natural gas.

The innovation of the free market allows us to build a future where we can balance the reduction of methane pollution with ensuring that natural gas is abundant, affordable, accessible, and clean. This reliable form of energy is essential to human flourishing. Politicians who advocate for big government “solutions” such as those found in the “Build Back Better” plan are not engaging with reality. The free market is once again the answer to the environmental problems we face.

Karl Honegger is a certified treasury professional and a member of the Emerging Leaders Council with the Steamboat Institute. He has eight years’ experience in the petroleum industry working for oil and natural gas companies. He now works for Modivcare.

Karl Honegger is a certified treasury professional and a member of the Emerging Leaders Council with the Steamboat Institute. He has eight years’ experience in the petroleum industry working for both oil and natural gas companies. He currently works for Modivcare.