A great piece from Tuesday night which connects some dots to show how big an impact shale gas production in the northwestern part of the state has had and is having on Louisiana’s economy as a whole…

Indeed.

We had occasion to travel up to Shreveport last week, and anybody who has approached that town from the south on I-49 can’t help but be blown away by the number of gas wells stationed along the highway once you get to DeSoto Parish. You can see one every quarter-mile. It’s impressive.

And the interesting thing is that a lot of those wells are shut in, because the price of natural gas is extremely low at present. Demand for that gas still hasn’t quite caught up to the supply, so supply is on hold until that changes.

But since cheap natural gas is just about the best asset someone can have in manufacturing or the petrochemical industry, and since Louisiana has one of the best natural gas pipeline networks in the world, it’s no surprise that Haynesville shale gas has made this state a hot destination for industry. To the tune of $60 billion in capital investment, with more on the way, and better than 200,000 new jobs.

Those are numbers which indicate why, while you might have clowns like Yoko Ono holding up shale gas production in a place like New York you’ve got nothing like that in Louisiana. People here understand what a blessing shale gas can be.