Anti-energy left opposing upgrades to pipelines and other infrastructure

Fuel Fix:

Energy Secretary Rick Perry delighted in poaching companies from California while governor of Texas.

Now he is going after the west coast state once again, saying he is "frustrated" with their opposition to oil and gas development.

"They are anti-fossil fuel," he said at a meeting of the National Petroleum Council in Washington Monday. "At some point in time California is going to come to its senses.

Perry is making a push to modernize and expand the pipelines and other infrastructure that move oil and natural gas around the country, fighting back against a swelling anti-fossil fuel movement that has grown up in response to climate change.

Adding to a list of pipeline projects facing state opposition, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo announced Monday he would not grant a permit for an eight-mile long gas pipeline over concerns about greenhouse gas emissions.

President Donald Trump has said expanding U.S. energy production is a priority for his administration.

And streamlining the permitting process to speed up pipeline construction will be a critical element of Perry's agenda, said Deputy Energy Secretary Dan Brouillette.

"There's simply no way our existing infrastructure can handle this surge in the supply [from hydraulic fracturing] over the long haul," he said. "We must build more, and we must maintain and upgrade our existing infrastructure."

The United States produced more than 3.2 billion barrels of oil last year, a more than 50 percent increase since 2010.

Perry requested the National Petroleum Council, a federal advisory board made up of executives from oil and gas companies, launch a study into the current state of the nation's energy infrastructure, as well as means to expand the integration of carbon capture technology.
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California is in the hands of anti-energy extremists who have driven up the costs of most energy production in the state and have resisted improvements to fossil fuel infrastructure.  This is another reason why it is losing its middle class as people can't afford the restrictions on fossil fuels.  California's housing policy has also harmed the middle class and young families.  It has the largest homeless group in teh country and its poverty rate greatly exceeds that of competitor states like Texas.