Opinion: Infrastructure is Synonymous With the Natural Gas and Oil Industry

Columbus Dispatch. Infrastructure investment is a rare issue that Americans and our political leaders all agree on. That’s why Vice President Harris recently visited Columbus to promote the passage of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, but do you know what actually goes into rebuilding our infrastructure? The simple answer is a whole lot of natural gas and oil.Roads are probably the first thing you think of when you hear someone talking about infrastructure. They are the most visible piece of infrastructure for most Ohioans, and wholly reliant on the natural gas and oil industry. Most people know that roads are made of asphalt, but it might surprise you to learn that asphalt is made by refining crude oil — some of which is produced in eastern Ohio and refined in northwestern Ohio! Without the natural gas and oil industry, we won’t be rebuilding any roads or filling any potholes.Bridges are another piece of physical infrastructure people often think of when they hear politicians discussing rebuilding our infrastructure. The American Road and Transportation Builders Association reports that 5.1% of Ohio bridges are structurally deficient and in need of repair or replacement. What will it take to repair and replace all those bridges? A lot of American made steel, which is heavily reliant on natural gas to provide the immense amounts of energy needed to turn iron ore into steel.Even some of the “green” elements of infrastructure rely on the natural gas and oil industry. The electric vehicle charging network that we’ll be spending $7.5 billion on is a great example of this. Each charging station built requires products like plastic that are made by refining oil.Furthermore, much of the electricity being used to charge vehicles at these stations will come from natural gas-fired power plants. Data from the Energy Information Administration shows natural gas is the single largest source of electric generation in Ohio, accounting for 43% of the state's generation.Solar panels are often talked about as part of our energy infrastructure, too. They can be a great source of energy in the right conditions, but they too require inputs from the natural gas and oil industry.Solar panels work because photovoltaic cells convert sunlight to energy. These photovoltaic cells are sandwiched between layers of copolymers such as Ethylene Vinyl Acetate (EVA), which block any water or debris from getting into the panels and ruining them.EVA panels are also used to absorb shock and vibrations in order to protect the circuits and solar cells. EVA helps ensure solar panels are durable enough to produce energy for decades, and is made by combining petrochemicals from refined natural gas and oil.Ohio’s natural gas and oil industry is synonymous with infrastructure because we’re an essential building block of thousands of products including those needed to rebuild our infrastructure.The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act represents a once-in-a-generation investment in our country’s future, and we’re going to need the natural gas and oil industry to turn the legislation into reality.George Brown is executive director of the Ohio Oil and Gas Energy Education Program.Click here to view the original article.