Why a Short-Term Boost to Oil and Gas Production is Needed and Why It’s Actually Good For The Environment

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I believe a recent Business Insider article via Yahoo News sums this topic up well for the short term. However, I believe it lacks the long-term foresight that should illustrate how we could/should eventually ramp down oil and gas production as clean energy comes online to the point that it will be available to the masses. Meanwhile, I believe we all clearly need to separate short-term and long-term objectives when discussing what we need to do now.

Regarding the short term, I believe Mr. Dimon is spot on! We clearly need to increase gas and oil production to stabilize the economy/reduce inflation by getting supplies back in line with demand. This should also enable us to phase out coal very quickly. As most of us know, coal is much worse for the environment than oil and gas. However, it may be less known that some utilities might be forced into burn more coal to generate electricity to meet peak demand at certain times due to a lack of other energy sources, including oil and natural gas.

Meanwhile and for the long term, we definitely need to continue developing/expanding clean energy (of all sorts, not just solar and wind). This will enable an exit strategy from oil and gas, which is what is ultimately needed for the climate. Although such efforts are well underway, we’re not just yet ready to cut bait on gas, oil and even coal.

I don’t recall the long-term aspect being mentioned in the article. It needs to be because a time-phased approach to our energy source transition from fossil to clean is paramount in maintaining a stable economy with low inflation (by ensuring energy supplies always meet demand in real time) as well as meeting our climate objectives.

By placing these short-term and long-term actions/objectives along an approximately 5 to 10-year timeline, I believe one could see that the current push to shore up oil and gas production is good for both the economy and the environment, hence it is the right thing to do. Likewise, it should also be apparent that the time will come – hopefully sooner than later – that we’ll have enough clean energy online such that we could start to phase out oil and gas without impacting the ability to meet demand.