The left wants to get rid of gas-powered cars, and now gas-powered buildings as well. The Biden administration, as part of its ongoing green energy transition, last month issued a new declaration ordering all new or refurbished federal buildings to switch from natural gas to full electric power by 2025. The declaration is like a press release---light on specifics but heavy on rhetoric touting a "clean energy" future and claiming it will be "cost-effective."
Not surprisingly, experts in the oil and gas field don't see it that way. "A lot needs to happen between now and 2025 for this to be true, because that's not very long from now, and that's going to cost a tremendous amount of money to get switched over," says Jay Young with Texas-based King Operating.
Young tells KTRH the administration has already upended the energy market by restricting oil and gas development while calling for the end of gas-powered vehicles. "In recent years, we've seen a big increase in the demand for oil but not the supply that is necessary," he says. "And now with natural gas, you're going to see the same thing."
"If this was more gradual, like over a ten or fifteen-year period, I could see that," he continues. "But when the administration puts this much pressure into freaking people out and trying to do this in such a short period of time, that's what's a problem."
While the administration touts long-term cost savings on "equipment," the overall cost of converting some 300,000 federal buildings from gas to electric is staggering. On top of that, there isn't enough electricity to compensate for the loss of natural gas power. "With that many federal buildings, requiring that much electricity and that much natural gas...it's not realistic," says Young. "I don't know where these guys get their research from, but you can't just do this with the flip of a switch."