Energy and natural gas were the hot topics in Jacksonville this week. Christopher Guith, senior vice president for policy for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Energy Institute, spoke in front of hundreds during the 2015 Florida Energy Summit held in Jacksonville Thursday.
The Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services hosted the event in conjunction with the Jax Chamber at the Hyatt Regency in downtown Jacksonville. Many of the state’s big energy companies like Tampa Electric, Duke Energy and the Orlando Electric Utilites were all in attendance at the summit, which continues through Friday.
Guith keynoted the Energy Summit, talking about the different ways the United States can continue on the path to creating sustainable energy in the future.
Guith told Sunshine State News that American engineers have been critical to the progress of America building its natural gas resources.
The U.S. has the largest energy resource base in the entire world and currently has the most fossil fuel out of any other country worldwide. The U.S. also is on the brink of exporting natural gas, an accomplishment many thought unfathomable years ago.
“We went from being a country that was having to import natural gas and having to build more and more infrastructure to do that to a country that is on the precipice — literally months away from exporting it for the first time ever,” Guith said.
“Innovation and technological revolution have made that possible. And now we are the largest natural gas producer in the world,” Guith continued. If you look at what is happening in northeastern Florida, especially in Duval County, you have a lot of entrepreneurs and a lot of folks in the local government saw this as an opportunity. We are constantly trying to bring more and more gas down here from an industrial standpoint.”
Guith noted the accomplishments of American innovation to impact the price of oil and gasoline, which significantly impacts consumers since it can put more cash in their pockets.
“We paid less over this Labor Day for gasoline than any time in the previous 12 years and it’s solely because we were able to do so much in this country to impact the price point,” he said.
“The ability to site and build pipelines and take advantage of this massive natural gas resource base this country has continued to be an issue here,” he told SSN.
Because the U.S. has gone all in with natural gas, the decision comes at a possibly high price.
“It’s important for people to realize we are making a bet,” he told the crowd. “We are betting the future of our entire economy in our electricity sector on the ability to somehow being able to use coal and natural gas without the emissions.”
But Guith seemed hopeful that scientists would be able to come up with solutions to meet standards in the future, but also said the Environmental Protection Agency has thrown the natural gas industry into a world of unpredictability due to competing regulations.
“There’s a lot of innovation that could happen there,” he said.
The summit continues through Friday.
Reach Allison Nielsen by email at allison@sunshinestatenews.com
