It’s Official - Natural Gas is Hot

There’s an old saying: “It’s not news until it runs in the Times.” Thanks to this story, natural gas has officially become America’s energy darling.

Huge shales beds that have been long overlooked are now or will soon generate enormous incomes for producers, taxing entities, and of course landowners. Not only are black or brown shales found in 23 states, but the energy they produce, or more specifically, their emissions, are cleaner than either coal or oil. This is a development that will effect tens of thousands of landowners in all sections of the country, and the writer details the possibilities in an effective, enjoyable read. (Full disclosure: I have been writing for The Times since 1996.)

More Field Reports From The Land Report:

1. The Clean Energy Scam
   Amazing new diets, intriguing self-help books, a daily dose of St. John's Wort - we are a country obsessed with quick fixes. Now, as Time points out in this cover...
2. Lessons of the Barnett Shale
   Although I don't agree with the conclusion of this excellent article in Sunday's Dallas Morning News - that the biggest mineral play in the U.S. has gone bust - there...
3. The Rise and Fall of Ethanol
   One of the more telling anecdotes about ethanol comes from Boone Pickens. It's always an eye-opener to listen to this master raconteur discuss energy and politics. Last month I heard...
4. T. Boone Pickens: The Land Report’s Exclusive Interview
   Join Land Report Editor Eric O'Keefe as he goes behind the scenes with the legendary Texas oil man on his Roberts County ranch and in his quest to wean America off...
5. How to Invest in Land (Without Living on It)
   Whether you own a quarter-acre urban lot or a 40,000-acre ranch, your love of the land comes from the moment you pick up a handful of ground and watch the...