Is Fracking Endangered by Incessant Studies? – TransCanada Corporation (USA) (TRP), Plains Exploration & Production Company (PXP)

And now the Associated Press has noted that Governor Andrew Cuomo of New York, which has a moratorium on fracking, recently came close to lifting that blockage, at least on a limited basis. But at the behest of Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. he’ll now await yet another study of the technology. This next analysis is being funded largely by Pennsylvania’s Degenstein Foundation “which is not seen as having an ideological bent.” Surely that’s precisely why Kennedy was pushing for the delay.

Shell’s “iffy” prophesy
Last week, Royal Dutch Shell , which generates about half its revenue from natural gas, forecast that a combined shift to natural gas for power and transportation, along with carbon capture, and a boost to nuclear power could curtail climate change until mankind has moved into the next century. The obvious question is whether the oil and gas industry will be able to forestall attacks on hydrocarbons long enough for Shell’s expectations to become reality?

David Deming, a geologist and professor at the University of Oklahoma, said in a Friday Wall Street Journal op-ed piece that the traditional energy companies could benefit by emulating the National Rifle Association, which typically gives no quarter to its critics. As Deming observed:

Consider, by way of contrast, the absurd actions of Chesapeake Energy … Time magazine revealed last year that Chesapeake gave the Sierra Club $26 million. Presumably the Machiavellian reasoning was that the Sierra Club would use this money to attack Chesapeake’s competitor, the coal industry … Now the Sierra Club is trying to shut down hydraulic fracturing — the entire basis of Chesapeake’s natural gas business.

A Foolish takeaway
I believe that Deming is spot on. In order to prevent being overrun by environmental groups and a progressively more activist Environmental Protection Agency, producers, oil-field services companies, and other members of the oil and gas contingent would be well advised to toughen up, especially in the face of their opposition’s penchant for dilatory action through endless studying. The feckless alternative won’t be pretty for the industry or, more importantly, for U.S. consumers.

The article Is Fracking Endangered by Incessant Studies? originally appeared on Fool.com and is written by David Lee Smith.

Fool contributor David Lee Smith owns shares of Chesapeake Energy. The Motley Fool has the following options: Long Jan 2014 $20 Calls on Chesapeake Energy, Long Jan 2014 $30 Calls on Chesapeake Energy, and Short Jan 2014 $15 Puts on Chesapeake Energy.

Copyright © 1995 – 2013 The Motley Fool, LLC. All rights reserved. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.