Natural Gas Autos Would Keep Wealth In US Economy

Somehow the major advantage of using compressed natural gas seems to have escaped Daniel Sperling. The U.S. has plenty of CNG. High gasoline prices might be painful to consumers but they're not a destroyer of wealth. They're just a transfer of wealth from one party to another. In the case of gasoline, much of that transfer of wealth is from U.S. consumers to the Middle East. In the case of CNG, wealth does not exit the U.S. economy.

SAN FRANCISCO (Dow Jones)--The notion of spending taxpayers' money to help fill U.S. roads with natural gas-fueled vehicles faces a major test when voters in California, the nation's largest auto market, go to the polls in November.

Natural gas providers are spending millions of dollars on advertising to convince Californians to pass a ballot initiative allowing the state government to invest in the now-tiny market for natural gas-fueled cars and trucks. The push comes as gas producers, emboldened by a windfall of domestic production, press federal lawmakers to help expand the market for gas as a means for reducing dependence on foreign oil and cutting greenhouse-gas emissions.

If the California ballot initiative passes, up to a million vehicles fueled by compressed natural gas, or CNG, could ultimately end up on the state's roads. If the proposal - called Proposition 10 - fails, backers will face a tougher task selling authorities on the wisdom of investing in infrastructure for natural gas-fueled vehicles, compared with spending on biofuels or electric cars and trucks.

"Natural gas is on the menu of possible fuels for the future," said Jim Boyd, a member of the California Energy Commission. "Its carbon footprint isn't as good as totally non-carbon fuels. But as we transition to alternative fuels, there could be a pathway to a future that includes natural gas for while."

CNG proponents also point to the benefits that switching to a natural gas- heavy vehicle fleet can bring in shoring up the nation's energy security. Big U.S. natural gas discoveries and forecasts for larger reserves have emerged just as oil and gasoline prices have skyrocketed, forcing energy issues onto the front pages and into the speeches of both presumptive presidential candidates.