A seldom-mentioned reason is that shale-gas development in the US has benefited from important tax incentives – a model that Europe has no reason to emulate. Governments certainly have a role to play in supporting the development of new technologies, such as fracking; but, once the technology has been developed, there is no reason why one form of gas production should be subsidized via tax breaks.
但自然资源的私人所有权和国家所有权之争并不是美国天然气繁荣的唯一制度性因素。一个鲜被提及的原因是美国的页岩气开发有重要的税收激励——对此欧洲无需模仿。政府显然应该在支持新技术的开发中扮演角色，液压致裂法就是一例；但是，当技术已经成熟时，就没有理由要求某种天然气的生产方式应该通过税收减免的形式予以补贴。