I was disappointed to see former John E. Sununu distort the facts in his Dec. 10 op-ed “Best energy policy? None.” The natural gas and oil sectors are longstanding beneficiaries of government support. Indeed, federally funded research has led to innovations as varied as cancer drugs and the Internet — and shale gas drilling techniques.
The Breakthrough Institute showed how multi-decade support from the government, including research and development, tax credits, and price supports, was critical to the shale gas revolution. It was the US Department of Energy that first demonstrated modern hydraulic fracturing and mapping techniques in 1977. As Mitchell Energy’s former vice president, Dan Steward, stated: “The DOE started it, and other people took the ball and ran with it. You cannot diminish DOE’s involvement.”
Comments
Rachael, I may be the only one reading your letter and that's too bad. It was informative and validating. To be perfectly partisan, I immediately thought of the 'you didn't build it alone' comment that was roundly misinterpreted and conflated by Republicans during the last election. This certainly seems like the DOE and the american taxpayer did the heavy lifting, philosophically, scientifically and morally (or did the oil/gas companies pay the entire bill?) A great instance of governmental contributions to the country.