Written by Stephen Cavallaro

While bureaucratic protests flare over the supposed environmentally hazardous Keystone XL Pipeline Project, preventing the harvest of an abundant supply of crude oil in northern North America by U.S. companies, a different source of domestic energy prevails.

Shale gas, a copious natural gas in the United States, is being drilled for by British-owned utilities company Centrica.

Recently, Centrica struck a deal with U.S. energy company Cheniere to purchase enough shale gas to heat 1.8 million homes in the United Kingdom—a deal backed by the U.S. government.

Why does the government support drilling for harmful energy on domestic soil for the sake of diversifying and stabilizing the energy of a foreign market but refrain from supporting its own welfare?

Shale gas, like crude oil, poses a threat to the environment. Fracking, the method for extracting the substance from the Earth, leads to the release of methane into the atmosphere; thereby, aiding climate change. In addition, toxins are released into water sources and other ecosystems.

America’s finest “eco-terrorists” have incurred as much banter over the Pittsburgh-based Center for Sustainable Shale Development as they have over the Keystone Pipeline.

America remains dependent on foreign energy sources and is perpetually unable to wean itself off because the government refrains from backing revolutionary opportunities, such as the Keystone Pipeline, toward becoming a self-sustainable society. The solution to the issue does not come from enticing other nations to behave similarly.

British environmental activists are struggling to protect their nation from making America’s mistake, relying on foreign energy for salvation. With a plethora of thriving energy sources in the United Kingdom, the British are as capable as Americans at instilling a future of energy independence.

Adopting such a strategy can lead our nation to prosperity and reinstall the former glory of the unstoppable Union. If our soil must be ravished by the reign of commercialism, the outcome must be for the greater good of the American economy and the American people, not as a ploy to misappropriate energy and misdirect the economies of our allies.