Commentary In October, the governments of Austria and The Netherlands warned of the risk of a “great blackout.” Soaring natural gas prices, lack of security of supply, and a challenging outlook for pipeline deliveries from Russia made the governments exceedingly nervous about the chances of providing cheap and reliable energy for homes in winter. However, an unexpected ally has prevented an energy crisis in Europe and, ironically, it’s an ally that was banned in most European nations: shale gas. Reuters reports that about half of the record U.S. liquefied natural gas volumes shipped in December 2021 went to Europe, up from 37 percent earlier in 2021, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. While most European nations banned the exploration and development of domestic natural gas resources many years ago, the United States has plenty and competitive supplies thanks to the shale oil and gas revolution, which has made the …