Fric-Frack-Foe?

I'm not so sure you want these people looking at you. Not all at the same time, at least.

You see, everyone you see here sitting in a plush leather chair and facing right to left here is a member of the House Energy & Commerce Committee. And if they're looking at you, you're probably a witness called to testify before a committee hearing. Not sure you wanna be front and center in this room.

On this particular day, these House members gathered ostensibly for a hearing about the proposed ExxonMobil acquisition of XTO Energy. The chairmen of both companies were there, the only witnesses called to testify, in fact. But instead of discussing the business implications of the mega-marriage, committee members apparently wanted to talk only about the value of natural gas.

Yes, unilateral subcommittee agreement on a single issue. What're the odds?

Actually, the odds on natural gas aren't long at all. It generates electricity with far fewer carbon emissions than coal, a far lower cost than nuclear, and far better baseload results than wind or solar. Oh, and the U.S. also has a titanic supply in its shale gas formations. As most committee members seemed to say, What's not to like?

Well, the way we get that natural gas out of shale rock does have some critics. Hydrofracking is the subject of the House and Senate FRAC Acts, neither of which is expected to get a vote. But at this E&C hearing, even one of the co-sponsors seemed to be applauding the practice.

Or you could take the word of Steve. Actually it's Steven, as in Steven Chu. As in Secretary of Energy and Nobel Prize-winning scientist Steven Chu. He's down.