100 Days: Infrastructure Should Keep Pace With U.S. Energy Needs
Mark Green
Posted April 3, 2017
In the early going the Trump administration has signaled support for energy infrastructure by hastening approvals for the Keystone XL and Dakota Access pipelines and by ordering expedited environmental reviews and approvals for high-priority infrastructure, including energy projects. As the president’s executive order said last week, promoting clean and safe development of U.S. energy is in the national interest – and advancing infrastructure is critically important to ensuring that Americans receive the full benefits from that energy. U.S. voters agree, 81 percent supporting increased infrastructure development in an election night survey.
While Keystone XL and Dakota Access have high profiles, America’s infrastructure needs also include other pipelines to transport crude oil to refineries, natural gas transmission pipelines – especially into the Northeast – and other supporting facilities. Making sure that projects are reviewed and permitted fairly and efficiently is absolutely key to infrastructure progress, so it’s significant the administration has made this a top priority.
History indicates the private sector will invest in needed projects. Between 2010 and 2013 capital spending on energy infrastructure increased 60 percent, according to a 2013 study. The same study found that updating U.S. energy infrastructure could generate more than $1 trillion in private investment, support 1.1 million new jobs and add $120 billion per year to the national economy by 2025.
Increased infrastructure investment means demand for steel, machinery, engineering services and more, spurring an estimated $45 billion per year of economic activity throughout the supply chain. In this way big projects, such as pipelines, bring multiple benefits – delivering energy where it’s needed and growing the economy.
U.S. consumer demand is driving the need for new and updated infrastructure – pipelines, railroads, highways, waterways and ports. There’s also been a big change in America’s energy picture. Originally, infrastructure was set up to move oil and natural gas from the coasts, where it was delivered by ship, to the refining centers and populations inland. Today, there’s a need to transport oil and gas from inland producing areas.
Pipelines are a modern, safe and efficient way to deliver energy. In 2014, 500,000 miles of liquid and natural gas transmission pipelines transported 16.2 billion barrels of crude oil and petroleum products and 27.3 trillion cubic feet of natural gas throughout the U.S. at a safety rate of more than 99.99 percent. This is largely due to significant investments in pipeline safety and maintenance activities:
Failing to meet America’s need for more infrastructure has negative impacts. Infrastructure bottlenecks in the Northeast have contributed to the fact that New England consumers – residents, businesses and industries – pay among the highest prices for electricity among the Lower 48 states:
To sustain our nation’s positive energy trajectory and position as a global energy leader, the new administration and Congress should follow up the president’s executive orders by working with the private sector to put policy into action that will enable the expansion of the nation’s energy infrastructure.
The “100 Days” series of posts.
About The Author
Mark Green joined API after a career in newspaper journalism, including 16 years as national editorial writer for The Oklahoman in the paper’s Washington bureau. Previously, Mark was a reporter, copy editor and sports editor at an assortment of newspapers. He earned his journalism degree from the University of Oklahoma and master’s in journalism and public affairs from American University. He and his wife Pamela have two grown children and six grandchildren.