Muller and Daniels: The Fracker’s Guide to a Greener World

Governor Mitch Daniels (R-IN) calls for finding a middle ground in the debate on America’s energy future in the pages of the Wall Street Journal.

In an oped posted in the Wall Street Journal called “The Fracker’s Guide to a Greener World”, Governor Daniels joins with University of California, Berkeley, Professor Richard Muller in calling on Americans to come together to address the challenges facing our energy independence:

“One of us is a former skeptic, converted by his own research to the conviction that man-made carbon dioxide is the decisive factor in a real phenomenon of climate change. The other is agnostic, willing to be persuaded of human causality but rejecting as ineffective or counterproductive the anti-growth policies proposed by some alarmists. People like us—and all those struggling with the ambiguities of this highly uncertain topic—might come together around policies that make sense whatever the scientific facts ultimately prove to be.”

In their oped they seek to begin a conversation about solutions that are both based on conservation of energy and solutions that are available now:

“We suggest a dual approach: profitable conservation and rapid expansion of the natural-gas economy.

The conservation we suggest is technological, meaning it wouldn’t depend on individual sacrifice or cultural change. Done right, this conservation can yield large returns on investment.”

“Even more promising is the switch away from coal to natural gas, particularly in the developing world. Natural gas has the huge added advantage of causing far less local air pollution—the kind that, unlike carbon dioxide, is harmful to human health. Coal releases far higher levels of soot and other chemicals that are currently choking China.”

To read the full editorial visit the Wall Street Journal.

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