EPA chief to investors: We need more gas pipelines

Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Gina McCarthy wants energy investors to spend their dollars on building infrastructure to carry natural gas across the country.

McCarthy's pitch to the business community at a Barclays-hosted conference in New York Tuesday instead of, say, regulators or policymakers stems from the EPA having no jurisdiction over the pipes that send natural gas into homes and businesses. Federal regulations, therefore, can't address all the issues the agency sees with natural gas infrastructure, and McCarthy wants businesses to answer calls for improvements from state governments and utilities.

"This is really about building a healthy industry, a healthy investment market, and lowering carbon pollution," McCarthy said.

The United States doesn't have enough pipelines for natural gas, from the "upstream" portion that brings energy out of the ground to the "downstream" arena that pumps it into homes.

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