{"id":7581,"date":"2014-07-10T15:19:45","date_gmt":"2014-07-10T20:19:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/?p=7581"},"modified":"2014-07-10T15:23:43","modified_gmt":"2014-07-10T20:23:43","slug":"goldman-sachs-supports-methane-policy-and-why-it-matters","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/2014\/07\/10\/goldman-sachs-supports-methane-policy-and-why-it-matters\/","title":{"rendered":"Goldman Sachs Supports Methane Policy, and Why it Matters"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Source:<\/a>
Source: Shutterstock<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Good energy policy ideas can come from all corners, and Wall Street is no exception.<\/p>\n

Goldman Sachs recently served up a powerful case for action on methane in a stroke of market logic grounded in data. In a recent\u00a0report<\/a>, the investment bank argues that environmental regulation is more than a necessary evil when it comes to oil and gas development \u2013\u00a0it\u2019s a vital enabler for economic growth.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s power in diverse groups coming together.<\/p>\n

Goldman\u2019s insight for the U.S. oil and gas industry\u00a0\u2013\u00a0that the current environmental policy vacuum is a major cause of investor queasiness\u00a0\u2013\u00a0suggests that markets can help drive environmental progress.<\/p>\n

Business, investors, policymakers can join forces<\/strong><\/p>\n

Among the policy priorities Goldman Sachs identifies in its report is the establishment of\u00a0strong and stable rules<\/a>\u00a0to ensure companies follow safer development practices and reduce emissions of methane.<\/p>\n

A highly potent greenhouse gas and the primary ingredient in natural gas, methane is\u00a0leaking from across America\u2019s natural gas supply chain<\/a>.\u00a0It’s now responsible for more than one-third of today\u2019s greenhouse gas emissions worldwide.<\/p>\n

With \u201ctimely cooperation among business leaders, investors and policy makers,\u201d however, Goldman Sachs believes that strong methane policies are feasible in the not-so-distant future.<\/p>\n

Investors need market certainty<\/strong><\/p>\n

As public controversy abounds over the environmental impacts of producing new supplies of American oil and gas and policy uncertainty persists, Goldman Sachs believes large would-be investors will keep their mega-checkbooks holstered.<\/p>\n

Or, more likely, they will re-direct those checks to foreign competitors in countries where projects can proceed with more market certainty.<\/p>\n

That means that although North America could add up to 2 million jobs in traditional manufacturing and other industries over the next decade, it\u2019s far from certain to investors that policy and market dynamics will allow the United States to grab this opportunity.<\/p>\n

Removing this uncertainty is where the investment bank sees a clear role for regulation.<\/p>\n

Goldman\u2019s report shows that, although investment surged in the North American upstream oil and gas industry, investment lagged foreign nations 15-to-1 in downstream industries such as chemical plants that use products \u00a0developed in the fields for manufacturing.<\/p>\n

This is partly because investors lack confidence that upstream supply will be stable over time given controversy and the lack of strong policy.<\/p>\n

Or as\u00a0Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein recently observed on the Charlie Rose Show<\/a>, industry operators who get new facilities permitted in the absence of methane rules will achieve \u201ca very hollow victory.\u201d<\/p>\n

Methane message resonates with industry<\/strong><\/p>\n

I represented Environmental Defense Fund at the\u00a0Goldman Sachs North American Energy Summit<\/a>\u00a0last month.<\/p>\n

My remarks to the summit focused on methane because it\u2019s the linchpin to the climate performance of the oil and gas industry\u00a0\u2013\u00a0and a litmus test for its ability to address a broader suite of very real environmental concerns.<\/p>\n

If we take a proactive approach and fix the methane problem, we can begin reducing the environmental risks from unconventional oil and gas development and provide more assurance that the public and the markets need to reap economic benefits.<\/p>\n

The best way to do this is with a smart, comprehensive, and timely national methane policy, building on President Obama\u2019s methane strategy in the\u00a0Climate Action Plan<\/a>, and an ongoing EPA analysis.<\/p>\n

Such an approach could ensure that we cut emissions as much as possible, as quickly as possible, and through a consistent framework that works for businesses, I told the summit.<\/p>\n

It could draw heavily on the experience of leading states like Colorado, which\u00a0brought together industry and environmentalists<\/a>\u00a0to forge sensible standards that are keeping methane in the pipes and out of the atmosphere.<\/p>\n

I was encouraged to hear interest in policy collaboration from multiple industry and investor leaders.<\/p>\n

These forward-thinkers understand that while methane and the other important environmental challenges with oil and natural gas won\u2019t go away on their own, they can be minimized if we roll up our sleeves and establish the kind of policy certainty Goldman identifies as a driver of business value.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Good energy policy ideas can come from all corners, and Wall Street is no exception. Goldman Sachs recently served up a powerful case for action on methane in a stroke of market logic grounded in data. In a recent\u00a0report, the investment bank argues that environmental regulation is more than a necessary evil when it comes …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8086,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,55717,693],"tags":[],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-7581","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","category-methane-2","category-natural-gas"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nGoldman Sachs Supports Methane Policy, and Why it Matters - Energy Exchange<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/2014\/07\/10\/goldman-sachs-supports-methane-policy-and-why-it-matters\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Goldman Sachs Supports Methane Policy, and Why it Matters - Energy Exchange\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Good energy policy ideas can come from all corners, and Wall Street is no exception. 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