I can respond to this post to a localized degree wholeheartedly...
I live in Pasadena/Altadena, California, 91107 (foothills of the San Andreas fault and suburb of LA County, about 5 miles or so out of Los Angeles City...go USC/Rose Bowl!), and almost every city vehicle in(Los Angeles and/or county,)uses natural gas. It has definitely become more and more popular across the nation as national trends have shown for at least the past decade if not more. But where are our NG fill ups? You would think that in such a populous state that we would have the use of NG for personal use, nope! Solar power my friends, is huge here! I mean huge, for residential use! Anyone who has ever traveled the 10 or 40 freeway entering California is overwhelmed by the extremely large windmills...mostly in the outer deserts.
I just thought I would add that because, it's very true...California, along with other counties across the US, have already been converting "most" Los Angeles County(and other local municipality) vehicles over to NG for years, even before it became "Popular" as California, always does tend to set the trends for being environmentally friendly(even though the smog accumulation shows something completely opposite)*. Especially, the infamous Gas Company/Sempra Energy Co, all of their vehicles run on Natural Gas of course.
My only concern for some of these "large counties" across the nation in reference to NG, such as Los Angeles County, is...will the US Government legislatively speaking, make this a feasible and viable solution for the future. Because right now in Los Angeles County, things are looking very, very, very unstable economically. Not to mention we drive an average of 20 miles to reach our nearest destination, most drive even more miles to get to-from work everyday. Also, Public transport here is not really feasible/reliable for most of us because, transport time from city to city within Los Angeles County, takes an average of 2-3 hours. Go figure...you have to be at work at 8am but have to leave your house at 5am or even earlier, ridiculous right?
So, we here in California(usually referred to as weirdos...lol) continue to drive our "gas based cars"(usually an average of two per household)and alone can and has, moved the demand for oil up nationally...because we really, really, really, really need it(guess what guys, they stick us every time they can for gas)! By the way, right now we are at an average of $2.29 per gallon again, of course down $2.00 from last year! Kep California in your prayers...we are having a water shortage, gas shortage(so to speak) and have been told we have to control our water consumption or else!)
With all this being stated here, will our government do the right thing and pass stronger legislature to anti up the demand for US Natural Gas and Oil?
As you all know, President Obama has this new "Express Train" idea from Cali to the tri-states, especially Nevada. This is another concern of mine while investing into this industry, as it could possibly drive the demand for oil down in my area.
Also, our tax rate has been increased from 8.25% to 10.00%. Wow, we thought Schwartzennager(or however you spell that crap) would have helped us out, but like President Obama, he raised taxes making it even more difficult for your "Average Person" to afford Los Angeles County's public transport, which can cost on an average of $10-$20 dollars a day(not to mention if you work in downtown LA, the average parking fee is around $10 a day). That's the average without the monthly train pass of about $200.00 something dollars a month!
Any comments much appreciated as always.
: )
*Completely opposite from what we say here in LA, because of our topography. Los Angeles sits mostly in a valley which traps most of our expelled gases, making smog control a HUGH CONCERN for our health and ultimately life spans.
