On On 23 April 2005, when he signed HB 1365 - The Colorado Clean Air-Clean Jobs Act into law, Colorado Governor Gov. Bill Ritter confirmed natural gas as a future priority in Colorado.  He may also have set a model for future consideration by other states.  The bill authorizes Xcel energy, a combination electricity and natural gas energy company serving Colorado's Front Range communities, to propose a plan to reduce pollutants through retiring, retrofitting or repowering Front Range coal-fired power plants by the end of 2017 and replacing them with facilities fueled by natural gas and other lower or non-emitting fuels.  

Although natural gas emits half the carbon dioxide of coal, it also releases a smaller proportion of other gases according to Colorado Oil and Gas Association (COGA) Chairman Don McClure.  Colorado policymakers are concerned about the state's ability to meet federal air quality standards according to McClure.  "The state wants to get ahead of an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) driven plan.  The main intent is to lower oxides of nitrogen by 70-80 percent, and the only practical way to do that is with a cleaner burning fuel, such as natural gas."

The signing of House Bill 1365 attracted a set of bipartisan lawmakers, environmentalists, Xcel Energy executives and natural gas advocates according to Colorado Governor Ritter who praised all parties for creating an unlikely political coalition to propel the bill forward.

The bill allows for long-term fixed-price contracts with gas producers similar to coal contracts today according to COGA.   An analysis by the Institute for Energy Research shows the total cost of building and operating a natural gas power plant over its economic life is less per kilowatt-hour than building coal plants.

Study finds significant potential to displace coal, reducing greenhouse gas emissions.


On 22 June 2010 the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) announced the release of an 83-page report stating why they believe natural gas will play a leading role in reducing greenhouse-gas emissions over the next several decades, largely by replacing older, inefficient coal plants with highly efficient combined-cycle gas generation.

The two-year study, managed by the MIT Energy Initiative (MITEI), examined the scale of U.S. natural gas reserves and the potential of this fuel to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions.  The report includes a set of specific proposals for legislative and regulatory policies, as well as recommendations for actions that the energy industry can pursue on its own, to maximize the fuel's impact on mitigating greenhouse gas. The study also examined ways to control the environmental impacts that could result from a significant expansion in the production and use of natural gas - especially in electric power production.

Among the reports key findings:

1. The United States has a significant natural gas resource base, enough to equal about 92 years' worth at present domestic consumption rates.
2. Environmental issues associated with producing unconventional gas resources are manageable but challenging.
3. Natural-gas consumption will increase dramatically and will largely displace coal in the power generation sector by 2050 (the time horizon of the study).
   
4. The introduction of large intermittent power generation from, for example, wind and solar, will have specific short and long term effects on the mix of generation technologies.
   
5. The overbuilding of natural gas combined cycle plants starting in the mid-1990s presents a significant opportunity for near term reductions in CO2 emissions from the power sector.
6. In the transportation sector, the study found a somewhat smaller role for natural gas.
   
7. A global "liquid" market in natural gas in which supply sources are diverse and gas prices are transparent, set by supply and demand with price differences based on transportation costs, is desirable for U.S. consumers.

On 14 July 2010, U.S. Senator James Inhofe (R-OK) sent a letter  to Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator, Lisa Jackson seeking documents related to EPA's ongoing dispute with Texas regulators over air quality permitting.  

According to a 16 July 2010 Greenwire article Inhofe also requested details on what has been described by EPA as a wide-reaching review of air regulations, asking whether the agency is embarking on an effort to toughen regulation of shale gas development. Those rules would be particularly relevant to Region 6, which includes Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico and Texas.

Based on the information being requested from businesses, the agency seems to be headed toward new regulations on the emissions produced by shale gas development, Inhofe suggests in the letter.

Among a list of nine questions to EPA regarding a request by EPA for "region-wide speciated inventory of VOC and NOx air pollutants for the purported purpose of preparing for the impending ozone National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS)," Sen. Inhofe asks:

• In asking for a speciated inventory, is EPA contemplating providing credit for the reactivity of various pollutants in the formation of ozone?  Otherwise what is the purpose?
• What is the basis for only requesting information from the oil and gas production and exploration industry?
• The focus of the information appears to be on areas with shale production and exploration.   Is there a national effort to examine air emissions from shale gas operations?