Trump’s energy policies are far more practical and less costly than Biden’s. Relying on natural gas as a competitive, lower-emitting fuel source while we seek even lower or non-emitting sources at a competitive price is a good fit for the U.S. Unlike the Biden Troika, the supply line is all domestic.

Where the Trump policy may fall short is on the global stage. If natural gas is our transition fuel, it makes even more sense to promote it worldwide. In my last post, I drew attention to the coal boom in Asia. As we know, emissions will never fall worldwide until we rein in coal use. We’re doing it here with Natural Gas. With sensible policies, the same is possible globally.

Delivering lots of stable energy is crucial for providing better lives enjoyed by more advanced nations. Look around your abode and count everything you plug in without a thought that makes your life better. For three-quarters of a billion people, this is just a dream.

While Asia has made great strides in providing electricity, albeit using a lot of coal, Sub-Sahara Africa has the most people without power and the fastest-growing population:

The area isn’t bereft of natural gas—just the opposite. There is plenty of gas to exploit, but the problem is attracting the capital and expertise to exploit the deposits—financial institutions in the developed world, like Biden, favor windmills and solar panels.

This mindset has resulted in bizarre projects like Rift Valley windmills. The magnificent area in East Africa is a major migratory route for birds and animals, and we all know windmills and birds don’t mix. They detract from an area’s beauty. Would we stand for windmills at the Grand Canyon? Yet this project gets financing.

On the other hand, Nigeria, which has plenty of gas, struggles to build the pipelines needed to use it; however, China backs two pipelines constructed there.

Solar panels failed to gain traction in India for the same reasons: cost, maintenance, and reliability. Africans aren’t buying. To make solar panels or windmills cheaper locally, you need lots of power, which they don’t have in the first place.

With its surging population, South Africa gets 80% of its electricity from coal. Unless a competitive source is available, using more coal is inevitable. Only natural gas can fill the bill.

While making better use of natural gas here is a step in the right direction, the Trump administration should endeavor to overcome the developed world’s prejudice against the fuel. Surprisingly, the major oil companies differ from Trump in their withdrawal from major climate organizations. They think we must be present in all forums to persuade people in a successful direction.  

In a world where coal-fired plants come online almost daily, adding to the vast number already working, we can’t progress on man-caused warming. However, just as the U.S. cuts its emissions by substituting natural gas for coal, we should do everything to increase worldwide natural gas availability and use. As we found, competitive natural gas drives down coal use. Cutting the carbon from coal by half is meaningful progress.

Trump needs to use his salesmanship to this end. Providing the billion-plus people without reliable power helps both them and the planet. Can the developed world ethically do less?

The U.S. petroleum industry has the know-how and capacity to lead the way to achieving higher living standards while decreasing carbon. It can profit by doing good. Natural gas, like oil found anywhere, adds to the world supply, and more supply puts downward pressure on prices.

Using natural gas as our transition fuel allows us time to find other competitive and reliable sources. Already, some are coming to the fore. Almost two years ago, I wrote about naturally occurring Hydrogen. It’s a gas that can fuel everything from transport to power plants. Hydrogen is relatively expensive, but its use is moving ahead in heavy transport and other uses because of its ability to move heavy loads while being lightweight. This factor is the opposite of batteries. It does this while only generating water vapor.

Now, the national geological survey tells us we likely have vast amounts of natural Hydrogen:

If true, Hydrogen will almost seamlessly replace oil and natural gas. The industry that now finds and provides these fuels is uniquely qualified to bring Hydrogen to market, which may explain why the industry wants to keep its green options open.

Of course, other options may have breakthroughs, making them the competitive choice. Regulating nuclear power as a relatively safe power source, as evidenced by its record, may cause its cost to tumble. Geothermal, like Silky Sullivan, may come from behind. A fusion breakthrough will change the world forever. All this says is don’t continue to commit to the Biden loser troika.

One last thought: If Elon Musk doesn’t consider Hydrogen for some of his production, Tesla might be a great short sale.