By Deanna Bitetti
The natural gas “gold rush” has intensified debates around the world over how government regulates the oil and gas industry and protects the health and well being of its residents. The debate pits those who see the industry as an engine for economic growth against those who fear that lax standards create a potential for natural disaster.
The organization I currently work for, Common Cause, was founded on the principles of strengthening public participation and faith in our institutions of government and ensuring that government and the political process serve the public good, rather than special interests. It is for this reason that the hydrofracking debate is especially germane to the work we do and why Common Cause/NY and Common Cause PA have been closely monitoring natural gas industry campaign contributions and lobbying expenditures to urge careful consideration of our appropriate state fracking policies.
According to a New York Times article in May on a French lawmakers proposal to ban a method of extracting gas deposits from shale due to environmental concerns, France has been “looking with alarm at the experience in the United States, where shale gas is booming.” Nations around the world are looking to America on this important issue – not only for leadership, but with increasing scrutiny of the pitfalls and dangers we face if we allow the gas and oil industry to run amok with little regulatory oversight.
Ghana is another nation that is approaching natural gas exploration with an eye on the US experience. Ghana’s Jubilee offshore oil field has the potential to produce large quantities of natural gas, similar to the Marcellus and Utica Shales in New York State and Pennsylvania. Similar to state and national governments all over the world facing public policy decisions around natural gas exploration, Ghanaians are faced with combating the undue influence of special interest groups in a decision making process that is often dominated by a small, powerful elite. The potentially large economic pay-off creates a ripe scenario for corruption. How nations address these issues will affect how constituents view their governments and whether faith in government and government institutions is restored or destroyed.
As I head off to Ghana I am extremely aware of the mounting pressures to begin drilling – the need for cheap energy, the desire for jobs, the interest in increasing exportation of LNG in international markets. And with approximately 1.6 billion people around the world lacking access to energy sources, natural gas looms as a panacea for low cost energy consumption. However I am also cognizant of New York’s experience with natural gas extraction as Common Cause/NY’s recent report “Deep Drilling, Deep Pockets,” and Common Cause PA’s marcellusmoney.org website highlights: the special interest money flooding campaign coffers, the increase in lobbying expenditures by natural gas interests and the revolving door of industry executives entering government positions and vice versa.
Acting as a counterweight to the pernicious influence of natural gas industry influence, grassroots activism across the globe has created new avenues for civic participation. Throughout the United States, to Puerto Rico, Siberia, Israel and India, to name a few, individuals have gathered in their respective communities to demand that their governments and elected leaders act in their best interest.
In order to ensure public trust in government and institutions, leaders must be responsive to these calls for increased oversight of extractive industries, which must include enhanced measures for transparency and accountability and meaningful public participation, allowing all stakeholders to have a seat at the table. We must have open and candid dialogues about the net benefits and costs to societies by natural gas extraction.
We must also have candid discussions about the economic realities of natural gas extraction, including honest and realistic expectations of revenue generation and how those monies will trickle down to local communities. Boom and bust cycles often associated with extractive industries tend to hamper development rather than foster it. We can not as a global community afford to hedge our bets on unrealistic notions of windfall profits from natural gas, that may not increase development and may in fact lead to a loss of competitiveness in other export intensive sectors of society.
As the US becomes the center of attention for would-be gas producing nations it is paramount that we become a shining light of transparency, openness and oversight in our approach to environmental policy. It is up to us to remind our elected leaders that the whole world is watching.
This blog post is an edited version taken from a previous piece published here: http://www.commonblog.com/2011/06/21/natural-gas-extraction-a-good-government-paradox/
The natural gas “gold rush” has intensified debates around the world over how government regulates the oil and gas industry and protects the health and well being of its residents. The debate pits those who see the industry as an engine for economic growth against those who fear that lax standards create a potential for natural disaster.
The organization I currently work for, Common Cause, was founded on the principles of strengthening public participation and faith in our institutions of government and ensuring that government and the political process serve the public good, rather than special interests. It is for this reason that the hydrofracking debate is especially germane to the work we do and why Common Cause/NY and Common Cause PA have been closely monitoring natural gas industry campaign contributions and lobbying expenditures to urge careful consideration of our appropriate state fracking policies.
According to a New York Times article in May on a French lawmakers proposal to ban a method of extracting gas deposits from shale due to environmental concerns, France has been “looking with alarm at the experience in the United States, where shale gas is booming.” Nations around the world are looking to America on this important issue – not only for leadership, but with increasing scrutiny of the pitfalls and dangers we face if we allow the gas and oil industry to run amok with little regulatory oversight.
Ghana is another nation that is approaching natural gas exploration with an eye on the US experience. Ghana’s Jubilee offshore oil field has the potential to produce large quantities of natural gas, similar to the Marcellus and Utica Shales in New York State and Pennsylvania. Similar to state and national governments all over the world facing public policy decisions around natural gas exploration, Ghanaians are faced with combating the undue influence of special interest groups in a decision making process that is often dominated by a small, powerful elite. The potentially large economic pay-off creates a ripe scenario for corruption. How nations address these issues will affect how constituents view their governments and whether faith in government and government institutions is restored or destroyed.
As I head off to Ghana I am extremely aware of the mounting pressures to begin drilling – the need for cheap energy, the desire for jobs, the interest in increasing exportation of LNG in international markets. And with approximately 1.6 billion people around the world lacking access to energy sources, natural gas looms as a panacea for low cost energy consumption. However I am also cognizant of New York’s experience with natural gas extraction as Common Cause/NY’s recent report “Deep Drilling, Deep Pockets,” and Common Cause PA’s marcellusmoney.org website highlights: the special interest money flooding campaign coffers, the increase in lobbying expenditures by natural gas interests and the revolving door of industry executives entering government positions and vice versa.
Acting as a counterweight to the pernicious influence of natural gas industry influence, grassroots activism across the globe has created new avenues for civic participation. Throughout the United States, to Puerto Rico, Siberia, Israel and India, to name a few, individuals have gathered in their respective communities to demand that their governments and elected leaders act in their best interest.
In order to ensure public trust in government and institutions, leaders must be responsive to these calls for increased oversight of extractive industries, which must include enhanced measures for transparency and accountability and meaningful public participation, allowing all stakeholders to have a seat at the table. We must have open and candid dialogues about the net benefits and costs to societies by natural gas extraction.
We must also have candid discussions about the economic realities of natural gas extraction, including honest and realistic expectations of revenue generation and how those monies will trickle down to local communities. Boom and bust cycles often associated with extractive industries tend to hamper development rather than foster it. We can not as a global community afford to hedge our bets on unrealistic notions of windfall profits from natural gas, that may not increase development and may in fact lead to a loss of competitiveness in other export intensive sectors of society.
As the US becomes the center of attention for would-be gas producing nations it is paramount that we become a shining light of transparency, openness and oversight in our approach to environmental policy. It is up to us to remind our elected leaders that the whole world is watching.
This blog post is an edited version taken from a previous piece published here: http://www.commonblog.com/2011/06/21/natural-gas-extraction-a-good-government-paradox/
Folks interested in related Good Governance issues in Ghana regarding natural gas check out the Domunli Gas Project (near Takoradi):
ReplyDelete(Ghana Business News) 6/21/2011 People of Bonyere say $1.2b gas project threatens farm lands, future development
http://ghanaoilwatch.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1695:people-of-bonyere-say-12b-gas-project-threatens-farm-lands-future-development&catid=6:ghana-oil-a-gas-news&Itemid=27
And for overview of the gas project (which consists of offshore-onshore pipelines and a gas processsing plant near the Domunli Lagoon) check out the Ghana National Petroleum Company website for the ESIA documents on the right hand side of the page.