Re: Compromise is key to setting energy policy

Editorial: Compromise is key to setting energy policy
	Mar 16, 2011	Knox News
	Energy crises have been a part the American landscape on and off for the past 40 years. However, it seems we have learned little, except perhaps that politicians understand they can get a lot of mileage when they complain about America's dependence on "foreign oil." Since the 1970s when gasoline prices shot up during an embargo by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, Americans have talked about decreasing their dependence on oil from other nations, especially the Middle East. (During the current crisis, OPEC has ramped up production to compensate for the loss of Libyan crude.) The early 1970s also was the time the environmental movement was hitting its stride, so there was talk about ending dependence on fossil fuels and switching to alternative forms of energy: solar, geothermal and wind power, among others. And speaking of alternative sources of energy, credit U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander with leading the way. The Tennessee Republican last week became one of the first consumers in the state to purchase a 2011 Nissan Leaf electric car, encouraging the use of electric-powered vehicles. If enough Americans made similar purchases, he said, "that would be the single best way to reduce our dependence on foreign oil." With gasoline prices hitting an average of $3.50 per gallon nationwide last week - about $3.35 per gallon in Tennessee - Alexander's purchase was timely. Meanwhile, those rising gasoline prices continue to capture most of the current attention. And even politicians who seriously want Americans to find alternative sources of energy acknowledge that gasoline will remain the fuel of choice in the near future. Now, some predict that gas prices will reach $5 per gallon by the summer, and that is causing the rhetoric to rise as well. Tennessee's U.S. representatives have decried the dependence on foreign oil as well as the lack of a clear energy policy. U.S. Rep. John J. Duncan Jr., R-Knoxville, also expressed understandable concern about people in rural areas having to drive longer distances to work. Duncan chairs the House Transportation Committee's Subcommittee on Highways and Transit. An energy policy should include drilling in new areas and accelerating approval of nuclear power plants, Duncan said. U.S. Reps. Scott DesJarlais, of the 3rd District, and Phil Roe, of the 1st District, agreed. DeJarlais added that alternative forms of energy should be expanded, while Roe said the U.S. should boost the use of natural gas. Duncan said he expects the new Republican majority in the House to begin pushing for an energy policy that includes more domestic production. The discussion needs to begin anew and not disappear when gasoline prices fall. If the GOP majority can get it going, good for them. With the House in Republican hands and the Senate and White House controlled by Democrats, the current crisis might produce what has been lacking in the past. That would be a compromise that gives Americans a clear, coherent energy policy, one that builds instead of blames and guides instead of guesses. That would be an achievement 40 years in the making.

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Scott's Contracting
scottscontracting@gmail.com
http://www.stlouisrenewableenergy.blogspot.com
http://scottscontracting.wordpress.com

President Carter was right

	Mar 16, 2011	UK Progressive
	For 40 years, America's energy policy has been a bipartisan disaster. Since the early 1970s America's dependence on foreign oil has threatened our economy, security and national honor as we corrupted our foreign policy to satisfy our thirst for oil. Nixon failed. Ford failed. Reagan failed. George H.W. Bush failed. Clinton failed. George W. Bush failed. Compared to the magnitude of the problem, Obama so far has failed. Democrats failed. Republicans failed. The House failed. The Senate failed. The one national leader who understood was a prophet without honor in a nation addicted to oil: President Jimmy Carter. When Carter said the energy crisis is the moral equivalent of war, he was absolutely right. Carter could have been a more perfect commander in the politics of passing an energy program. Yet the far larger fault lies with the generals, captains and foot soldiers in a war that demanded our support, a war we have never fought, a war we continue to lose today. Perhaps with the price of oil rising to the skies again, our economic recovery threatened by the punishing price of gasoline, our decadent four-decade program of foreign policy threatened by instability in despotic oil-producing regimes and fears of nuclear meltdown arriving again, this could be President Obama's moment. In 2008 I wrote a column proposing a JFK moon-shot for the fuel-efficient car. I repeat that proposal here, adding an idea first suggested by Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.). Let's create the greatest private incentives in economic history to bring back the drive of invention, innovation and progress and renew "Made in America" to world energy, environmental and technology leadership. I propose that a company that sells at least 250,000 American-made cars that achieve 100 miles per gallon within five years be granted a waiver of all corporate taxes for that year; that the inventor of that car be granted a $1 billion cash bounty from the federal government, payable upon the sale of those 250,000 cars; that investors in that company receive a complete capital gains tax holiday for stock they own in that company held for at least two years; and that all workers in that company receive a holiday of all payroll taxes for one year. My proposal only goes into effect if the 100 mpg cars are sold in large numbers within the five-year window. It would create powerful incentives and rewards for inventors, management, corporate boards, investors and employees to create and sell the cars that would bring revolutionary energy savings for the world and a jobs wave for Americans. Let's fully upgrade the technology at the patent office and hire every employee necessary to fast-track patent approval for all major innovations, especially energy. It is ridiculous for the agency tasked to advance innovation to be a laggard in the world economy. Let's have a televised Davos-like summit in Washington to bring together inventors, engineers, entrepreneurs, CEOs, venture capitalists, private equity managers, labor leaders and consumer groups to develop investment, tax and spending policies to win the moral equivalent of war that we must wage and win together. Brent Budowsky The Hill

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Scott's Contracting
scottscontracting@gmail.com
http://www.stlouisrenewableenergy.blogspot.com
http://scottscontracting.wordpress.com