Natural-Gas Vehicles Will Run Best Without Subsidies Few areas
of American governance have been as incoherent in recent decades
as energy policy, which is saying something. But lately, we keep
seeing reasons for optimism. Almost miraculously, the U.S. is
both reducing its greenhouse-gas emissions and becoming
increasingly energy independent. As Bloomberg News recently
reported, the share of U.S. energy demand met by domestic
sources increased to 81 percent through the first 10 months of
2011 -- the highest level in 20 years -- and emissions are
expected to decline 12 percent by 2020. A major factor in both
trends is increased use of natural gas, a cleaner-burning fossil
fuel now being extracted in abundance across the country.
Hydraulic fracturing, a new production technology also known as
fracking, has helped push prices for the fuel to a decade low,
and has created plenty of jobs in the process. Inevitably, a
large lobbying effort has attached itself to this booming
business, advancing buoyant visions of an