Natural gas better for economy, environment

From an opinion piece by T. Boone Pickens in The Wichita Eagle.

The New Alternative Transportation to Give Americans Solutions Act (H.R. 1380) extends highly targeted tax incentives (not federal grants) to organizations that have heavy vehicles currently burning diesel. The NAT GAS Act would provide incentives for fleet owners to change from diesel-powered trucks to vehicles running on natural gas. The incentives would be limited to a specific amount and for a specific length of time — five years.

The legislation is designed to help jump-start a natural-gas vehicle industry in the United States, which would provide new jobs ranging from design engineers to toolmakers to manufacturers to those who maintain the vehicles.

The specific reason for this bill is not to pick one fuel over another. It is to pick the United States over OPEC.

Why switch heavy trucks to natural gas? First of all, it is one of the most abundant natural resources in the United States. Reports now show that we have a 100-year supply of natural gas, containing more energy than all the oil reserves in Saudi Arabia.

Natural gas is cheaper than oil. On a Btu-equivalent basis, natural gas costs about one-fifth as much as imported diesel.

It is cleaner; natural gas is about 30 percent cleaner than petroleum and produces no particulate emissions.

Natural gas works as a replacement fuel for heavy vehicles because neither batteries nor ethanol can produce enough horsepower to push them. Only diesel and natural gas can do that.