An Energy Policy for the Future
Energy continues to be the vital ingredient that, all puns aside, fuels the machinery of a modern economy. As Americans, we are by far the largest consumers of energy per-capita in the world, requiring enormous quantities of energy to fuel our economy and maintain the high standard of living we have grown to expect. America’s future prospects will continue to depend upon the secure supply of affordable and sustainable energy that can fuel our continued growth and prosperity. However, the growing dependence on foreign oil, unprecedented energy failures, and mounting evidence of accelerating environmental problems are clear warning signs that America’s current policies cannot be sustained. It is therefore crucial that we now push forward with an energy policy that properly reflects the significance this precious commodity represents by instituting a series of policies that stress efficiency, conservation and sustainability for us now and in the future.
An efficient, progressive energy policy is one that can proficiently meet the objectives of providing sustainable energy to a population, enabling the nation to flourish economically without compromising the integrity of the environment and the public’s overall well-being. In order to accomplish these goals, our first priority must be to drastically reduce our dependency on fossil fuels as our primary source of energy.
Our reliance on foreign oil supply has resulted in the formation of relationships with autocratic regimes, compromising the integrity and safety of the country. By refusing to rein in U.S. consumption of foreign petroleum, the Bush team is not only depriving itself of the most effective lever for promoting internally-driven reform in the Middle East, it is also depriving itself of many effective international policies. As Richard Haass, president of the Council on Foreign Relations, points out, given today's tight oil market and current U.S. consumption patterns, any kind of U.S. strike on Iran, one of the world's major oil producers, would send the price of oil through the roof, causing real problems for our economy. "Our own energy policy has tied our hands," Mr. Haass said. The inconsistencies within our policy scream to the be questioned when we are seen refusing to open relations with communist nations like Cuba because we feel the government abuses human rights, yet are seen welcoming known autocratic regimes like our good oil-rich friends in Saudi Arabia who continue to this day to oppress the rights of minorities and women within their own borders.
The biggest losers in our current energy system are the America consumers. Gas prices have continued to escalate at home, a $0.27/gallon increase in the last year alone, as OPEC countries continue to strangle the American drivers’ blind dependency on oil. The average price of a barrel of oil is at historic levels, yet rest assure knowing that the vested interests of executives at oil companies ConocoPhillips or Exxon-Mobil, whose supply comes from oil-rich Middle Eastern countries, are being met. Meanwhile, large energy companies have blundered away in the wake of the 1996 deregulation of the utility market, leaving the past 5 years mired in scandal and controversy. While the fat cats in big energy were busy padding their pockets, it was again the American consumer that suffered through contrived energy shortages and pricing hikes. The deregulated energy market allowed companies such as Enron to cheat consumers while placing states like California in what Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham warned to be the "most serious shortage" since the 1970s.
Its not just our purses that suffer from our current policy. We are destroying our natural environment and jeopardizing our health. The carbon emissions that are the bi-product of burning fossil fuels are the leading known proponent of global warming. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change predicts that in the next century there will be a rise in global temperatures between 1.8 and 6.3 degrees Fahrenheit due to the greenhouse effect, and those ramifications could be disastrous. The US is the largest single emitter of carbon dioxide from the burning of fossil fuels and, with the world's largest economy, remains the world's largest single source of anthropogenic (human-caused) greenhouse gas emissions. Current projections indicate that U.S. emissions of carbon dioxide, which is released into the atmosphere when fossil fuels are burned, will reach 5,985 million metric tons in 2005, an increase of 1,083 million metric tons from the 4,902 million metric tons emitted in 1990, and around one-fourth of total world energy-related carbon emissions. The bi-products of the burning fossil fuel emissions have resulted in the pollution of our waters and air by depositing mercury and other toxins in the ground and atmosphere. Health concerns are also triggered as pollutants emitted into the atmosphere find their way to the water we drink and the air we breathe.
The solutions to the litany of problems that we’ve created from our fossil fuel consumption should not be centered on developing more fossil fuel supplies domestically. The Department of Energy’s National Energy Policy currently has recommended that in order to alleviate our burden of foreign reliance, we should expand exploration of domestic oil reserves and begin drilling in remote, ecologically sensitive, and pristine areas like the Alaskan National Wildlife Refuge, and to slightly moderate the practices of coal and oil burning to mitigate the impact. However, the department shows a dangerous lack of foresight with such a prescription, and makes it painfully obvious what effect the over $380 million oil and gas companies have spent since 1998 lobbying our elected officials has had. Fossil fuel development is not a part of the solution, nor is the advancement of nuclear energy projects that pose catastrophic environmental and safety risks as seen in the former Soviet Union.
An energy policy that considers the total cost of society of its energy choices would greatly encourage the deployment of renewable energy technologies. Our nation’s leaders need to grasp the realization that clean energy is the next great infrastructure for job creation and growth, and mobilize public and private investment in clean energy technologies such as solar and wind power, hydrogen fuel cells and highly efficient American made cars. While creating a new generation of high wage manufacturing and construction jobs, this will also reduce our dependence on foreign oil imports, create a resilient energy system, strengthen our cities and rural communities, bolster national security, and clean up our environment.
Even with a radical sudden large scale shift to renewable energy sources will not address all of the problems that have been erected from past follies. Legislatures and representatives must be firm and emphasize the value of conservation by placing strict regulations on industries to generate more efficient products that use and pollute less. Stronger regulations need to be enforced to limit CO2, SO2 and mercury emissions from the old dirty coal power plants that continue to operate ignoring the great environmental accomplishments from the 1970’s, like the Clean Air and Clean Water Acts. Regulations must also be placed on the auto industry to require more fuel efficient vehicles that get better gas mileage, such as hybrid cars.
American prosperity has been built on our nation’s innovative leadership and our ability to adopt cutting-edge technologies to propagate industry and technology. Now, as various parts of the world have acknowledged the benefits of transitioning toward technologies that allow for sustainable growth, the US must stop lagging behind the global community in the critical green markets of the future. At the same time that the United States is watching literally millions of jobs go abroad, we are losing our technological and competitive edge and our market share to foreign companies. Japan alone now controls 43% of the solar power market, an industry invented in America, European countries control 90% of wind turbine production, and the United States is importing fuel cells from Canada. These are encouraging signs of things to come, and investing now in these new markets will create jobs for US workers and pave the way for future sustainability.
We must insist that America accepts its role as a global leader and introduce the infrastructure for renewable technologies and industries. The future prosperity of the US is critically dependent upon its capacity to support forthcoming generations, and that will ultimately be determined by a sustainable and reliable energy policy.
by Dave Krieger
An efficient, progressive energy policy is one that can proficiently meet the objectives of providing sustainable energy to a population, enabling the nation to flourish economically without compromising the integrity of the environment and the public’s overall well-being. In order to accomplish these goals, our first priority must be to drastically reduce our dependency on fossil fuels as our primary source of energy.
Our reliance on foreign oil supply has resulted in the formation of relationships with autocratic regimes, compromising the integrity and safety of the country. By refusing to rein in U.S. consumption of foreign petroleum, the Bush team is not only depriving itself of the most effective lever for promoting internally-driven reform in the Middle East, it is also depriving itself of many effective international policies. As Richard Haass, president of the Council on Foreign Relations, points out, given today's tight oil market and current U.S. consumption patterns, any kind of U.S. strike on Iran, one of the world's major oil producers, would send the price of oil through the roof, causing real problems for our economy. "Our own energy policy has tied our hands," Mr. Haass said. The inconsistencies within our policy scream to the be questioned when we are seen refusing to open relations with communist nations like Cuba because we feel the government abuses human rights, yet are seen welcoming known autocratic regimes like our good oil-rich friends in Saudi Arabia who continue to this day to oppress the rights of minorities and women within their own borders.
The biggest losers in our current energy system are the America consumers. Gas prices have continued to escalate at home, a $0.27/gallon increase in the last year alone, as OPEC countries continue to strangle the American drivers’ blind dependency on oil. The average price of a barrel of oil is at historic levels, yet rest assure knowing that the vested interests of executives at oil companies ConocoPhillips or Exxon-Mobil, whose supply comes from oil-rich Middle Eastern countries, are being met. Meanwhile, large energy companies have blundered away in the wake of the 1996 deregulation of the utility market, leaving the past 5 years mired in scandal and controversy. While the fat cats in big energy were busy padding their pockets, it was again the American consumer that suffered through contrived energy shortages and pricing hikes. The deregulated energy market allowed companies such as Enron to cheat consumers while placing states like California in what Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham warned to be the "most serious shortage" since the 1970s.
Its not just our purses that suffer from our current policy. We are destroying our natural environment and jeopardizing our health. The carbon emissions that are the bi-product of burning fossil fuels are the leading known proponent of global warming. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change predicts that in the next century there will be a rise in global temperatures between 1.8 and 6.3 degrees Fahrenheit due to the greenhouse effect, and those ramifications could be disastrous. The US is the largest single emitter of carbon dioxide from the burning of fossil fuels and, with the world's largest economy, remains the world's largest single source of anthropogenic (human-caused) greenhouse gas emissions. Current projections indicate that U.S. emissions of carbon dioxide, which is released into the atmosphere when fossil fuels are burned, will reach 5,985 million metric tons in 2005, an increase of 1,083 million metric tons from the 4,902 million metric tons emitted in 1990, and around one-fourth of total world energy-related carbon emissions. The bi-products of the burning fossil fuel emissions have resulted in the pollution of our waters and air by depositing mercury and other toxins in the ground and atmosphere. Health concerns are also triggered as pollutants emitted into the atmosphere find their way to the water we drink and the air we breathe.
The solutions to the litany of problems that we’ve created from our fossil fuel consumption should not be centered on developing more fossil fuel supplies domestically. The Department of Energy’s National Energy Policy currently has recommended that in order to alleviate our burden of foreign reliance, we should expand exploration of domestic oil reserves and begin drilling in remote, ecologically sensitive, and pristine areas like the Alaskan National Wildlife Refuge, and to slightly moderate the practices of coal and oil burning to mitigate the impact. However, the department shows a dangerous lack of foresight with such a prescription, and makes it painfully obvious what effect the over $380 million oil and gas companies have spent since 1998 lobbying our elected officials has had. Fossil fuel development is not a part of the solution, nor is the advancement of nuclear energy projects that pose catastrophic environmental and safety risks as seen in the former Soviet Union.
An energy policy that considers the total cost of society of its energy choices would greatly encourage the deployment of renewable energy technologies. Our nation’s leaders need to grasp the realization that clean energy is the next great infrastructure for job creation and growth, and mobilize public and private investment in clean energy technologies such as solar and wind power, hydrogen fuel cells and highly efficient American made cars. While creating a new generation of high wage manufacturing and construction jobs, this will also reduce our dependence on foreign oil imports, create a resilient energy system, strengthen our cities and rural communities, bolster national security, and clean up our environment.
Even with a radical sudden large scale shift to renewable energy sources will not address all of the problems that have been erected from past follies. Legislatures and representatives must be firm and emphasize the value of conservation by placing strict regulations on industries to generate more efficient products that use and pollute less. Stronger regulations need to be enforced to limit CO2, SO2 and mercury emissions from the old dirty coal power plants that continue to operate ignoring the great environmental accomplishments from the 1970’s, like the Clean Air and Clean Water Acts. Regulations must also be placed on the auto industry to require more fuel efficient vehicles that get better gas mileage, such as hybrid cars.
American prosperity has been built on our nation’s innovative leadership and our ability to adopt cutting-edge technologies to propagate industry and technology. Now, as various parts of the world have acknowledged the benefits of transitioning toward technologies that allow for sustainable growth, the US must stop lagging behind the global community in the critical green markets of the future. At the same time that the United States is watching literally millions of jobs go abroad, we are losing our technological and competitive edge and our market share to foreign companies. Japan alone now controls 43% of the solar power market, an industry invented in America, European countries control 90% of wind turbine production, and the United States is importing fuel cells from Canada. These are encouraging signs of things to come, and investing now in these new markets will create jobs for US workers and pave the way for future sustainability.
We must insist that America accepts its role as a global leader and introduce the infrastructure for renewable technologies and industries. The future prosperity of the US is critically dependent upon its capacity to support forthcoming generations, and that will ultimately be determined by a sustainable and reliable energy policy.
by Dave Krieger
posted by Rich at 7:16 PM
2 Comments:
Great platform, Dave. I've come up with the perfect solution to our environmental, Iraq, and anti-American problems- a deal where NATO countries contribute 100,000 troops to Iraq in exchange for the US signing the Kyoto treaty. Not only will this obviously help Iraq and the environment, but it will also strike a deep blow to terrorism financing by reducing oil prices (and therefore profits) worldwide. We cannot defeat terrorism with the status quo because we're suffering from the same problem that ruins the war on drugs- we're financing both sides of the war. If we drastically reduce out oil consumption, that self-defeating dichotimy will end.
Great platform, Dave. I've come up with the perfect solution to our environmental, Iraq, and anti-American problems- a deal where NATO countries contribute 100,000 troops to Iraq in exchange for the US signing the Kyoto treaty. Not only will this obviously help Iraq and the environment, but it will also strike a deep blow to terrorism financing by reducing oil prices (and therefore profits) worldwide. We cannot defeat terrorism with the status quo because we're suffering from the same problem that ruins the war on drugs- we're financing both sides of the war. If we drastically reduce out oil consumption, that self-defeating dichotimy will end.
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