Frustrated Wyoming Natural Gas Developer Wants to do More

Wyoming is a leading supplier is natural gas. They could be doing a lot more for the nation if they were allowed to. Government regulations and environmental groups are in the way.

In an interview with Fox News Jonah Energy Vice President, Paul Ulrich, spoke about misconceptions regarding the gas that powers everything from cell phones to electric cars.

"The single largest misconception about natural gas is that we can't do it clean. We can, We've proven it here in the Jonah Field. Other operators have proven it."

Most people have no idea that 40% of electric generation in the U.S. is powered by natural gas.

Jonah Field was one of the largest onshore natural gas discoveries in the early 1990s, according to the company’s website. Jonah Energy, in Sublette County, Wyoming, operates over 2,400 producing wells in the area.

Natural gas is a clean-burning fuel.

"Well drilling activities produce air pollution and may disturb people, wildlife, and water resources," the EIA's website states. "Laying pipelines that transport natural gas from wells usually requires clearing land to bury the pipe. Natural gas production can also produce large volumes of contaminated water."

Ulrich spoke about living on the land himself. He has family, as do his employees. They want to make sure that the land they work on is also good to live on.

"This is also our backyard," Ulrich said. "This is where we fish. This is where we hunt. This is where we raise our children."

Despite how clean natural gas is some still want it kept in the ground.

The Sierra Club, for example, has called for a phasing out of natural gas.

"Two-thirds of the methane gas used in the US is extracted through fracking, a process that pollutes air and water, contributes to climate change and induces earthquakes," according to a Sierra Club article titled "'Natural' Gas is Not Clean Energy - It’s Climate Endangering Methane Gas."

The above statement by the Sierra Club is not factually correct in any way, nor is the one below.

"To avert the worst impacts of the climate crisis, we need to transition away from burning fossil fuels and move to 100% clean, renewable energy,"

Yet groups like the Sierra Club never mention how much toxic waste is created in the production of what they call "green energy" or how much of an impact massive wind and solar farms have on the land.

Ulrich told Fox News:

"We care very deeply about [the environment]. I'll go so far to say, everybody here in Wyoming is passionate about conservation, passionate about preservation of wildlife and our air quality and our water, and we work every day to make sure we're doing the best job we can."