The Natural Gas Industry: Evolution, Structure and Economics by Arlong R.

Tussing; Connie
C. Barlow
Review by: Curtis E. Harvey
Environmental Review: ER, Vol. 9, No. 1 (Spring, 1985), pp. 87-88
Published by: Forest History Society and American Society for Environmental History
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 Tahoe, the Planningand ConservationLeague,and the SaveLakeTahoe
Association. As for the latter, the author identifiestwenty-fivefederal
agenciesand a numberof local, state, and regionalones.
The stateand localgovernmentsof Californiaand Nevadahavebeen
more responsiveto developersand other privateeconomicinterestsand
thus less effectivein curbingthe kind of growththreateningthe environ-
ment. This is particularlytrue of Nevada with its powerfulgaming in-
dustry.TheTahoeRegionalPlanningAgency,a bi-stateentityestablished
in 1969, has so far provento be a major disappointmentto those con-
cerned for the Tahoe basin's future as a scenic, pollution-freearea.
Althoughfederalactivityappearsto be the best hope for preserving
the considerablebeautythat still remainsthere, Strongnotes a number
of federalprogramsthat have encouragedgrowth,therebycontributing
to the problems:fundingof wastewatertreatmentplants,the buildingof
highways,the creationof recreationareas, the subsidizingof low and
moderate income housing, and providing more medical and airport
facilities.
Strong has done an impressivejob of researchand has packed an
enormousamountof informationinto two hundredreadablepages. The
extent and varietyof materialsconsultedis quite evidentin the chapter-
by-chapterbibliographicalessay. The only majorweaknessof the book
is thathe tellsthe environmental
historyof LakeTahoewithfew references
to national policies and developments.
Fortunately,the authorhas refrainedfrompolemicizingandpresents
his conclusionswith admirableobjectivity.Thereis no need to resortto
polemicsbecausethe factsaloneareenoughto arouseconcern,evenanger,
in the averagereader.

MichaelJ. Brodhead
Universityof Nevada, Reno

87

THE NATURAL GAS INDUSTRY:

EVOLUTION,STRUCTUREAND ECONOMICS.
By Arlong R. Tussingand ConnieC. Barlow.(Cambridge,Mass.: Ball-
inger Publishing Co., 1984. xv + 284 pp. Figures, tables, maps,
bibliography,glossary, index. $29.95.)
This is an unusuallywell writtenbook. Its prose is simple, direct,
and disarminglyappealing.Its messageis that governmentregulationof
industry,any industry,is like a 'tarbaby'(93), UncleRemus'sobjections
notwithstanding.Onceimposed,regulationsspawnthe needfor still other
regulations.An incessantcrescendoof regulationschasingproblems,or
is it the other way around?

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 With impendingnaturalgas deregulationfor most productionjust
aroundthe corner,thisbook hasmadea timelyappearance.Wellorganized
and structured,it followsa chronologicalpath,startingwiththe nineteenth
century. It concludes with 1984, and a mistitled final chapter, namely
"Outlook: The Rise and Fall of Regulation in the Natural Gas Industry."
Unfortunately, the chapter includes very little outlook or forecasts in its
eleven pages and is mostly polemic on the disadvantages of regulation and
the advantages of deregulation. The tarbaby syndrome makes its ap-
pearance once more, this time in the form of a "regulatory web."
In between chapters one and nine, the book discusses the birth of
the natural gas industry, its early transition problems, and its maturation
in the 1960s. The authors review special topics such as liquified natural
gas, coal gasification, and the Alaskan pipeline. One chapter deals with
the emergence of regulation in the industry, and another discusses the
nature of our natural gas resources. In the 1980s, the authors argue, there
will be much less emphasis on gas reserves and supplies, and much more
focus on the marketability of fuel-on-demand. This sets the stage for a
discussion of the factors that influence the demand for gas. The chapter
also includes a discourse on oil and the impact on prices of the OPEC
cartel. In "The Price of Overpricing" the authors argue that even though
long in coming, demand for oil is price elastic. In the long run not only
demand is affected, but supply as well. The currentoil glut is clear evidence
of this. Perhaps, but other factors have made a contribution to this situa-
tion. For example, had the Soviet Union not been experiencing disastrous
grain harvests for seven years now, the most severe this year, it would
have sold less oil on the world market. This would have reduced price
pressures on oil, and by inference on coal and natural gas. A penultimate
chapter discusses the ownership structureof the natural gas industry, from
production to distribution, and the impact government regulation has had
on it.
The book is eminently readable, interesting, and informative. The
central theme is the impact of regulation. The twin goals of regulation
- efficiency and equity - remain unattained in the views of the authors.
Perhaps, but regulation undoubtedly has had some salutary effects and
can hardly be discussed in terms of a tarbaby fable. I would also not agree
that all regulatory and political legislation is ephemeral, as the authors
88
maintain. Some have withstood the test of time quite admirably, even in
the face of at times hostile environments. In short, I personally find nothing
moral, immoral, or amoral in public regulation. It is intended to serve
the public good and the will of the people. If it does not do that, then
it serves poorly, and must be modified, but not abandoned on moral
grounds.
Curtis E. Harvey
University of Kentucky

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