Local environmentalist: develop domestic natural gas

Brent Foster, executive director of Columbia Riverkeeper ("to restore and protect the water quality of the Columbia River and all life connected to it") wrote an op-ed in yesterday's Oregonian calling for the country to develop domestic sources of natural gas.

OK, he didn't say that in so many words. He called for the shut-down of the proposed liquid natural gas terminal in Astoria. But when you read his words, what other assumption can you make:

At a time when Americans are held captive to Middle East oil producers, why would we intentionally become dependent on these same producers for our natural gas? As the Oregon Department of Energy's recent report made clear, most of the LNG imported into Oregon would come from the Middle East and would be twice as expensive as available gas supplies from the Rockies and Canada.

He goes on to argue that LNG pumps 30 percent more greenhouse gases into the atmosphere than domestic gas, and that (although we don't need more gas) we should be able to get all the "less expensive domestic gas" we need from other planned pipelines from the Rocky Mountains.

So the obvious solution: drill domestically for natural gas and oil, so we're not "held captive" to the Middle East, and develop the pipelines from those domestic sources so our supplies meet our demands.

Oh, he didn't say that? It sounds like it to me.