Getting serious on energy

Imagine the following statement from a presidential candidate:


Our nation’s situation with regard to oil is precarious. Most of the world’s supply and annual production of crude oil are controlled by various foreign governments, most of which are despotic and unstable and range in attitude from being perfidious false friends to being adversaries or even overt enemies. For many of the last thirty five years, these governments have been able to rig the price and control the supply of crude and to transfer vast amounts of unearned wealth from American consumers to themselves. These actions have retarded the growth of our economy, skewed our balance of payments, funded terrorists, and made us susceptible to blackmail. They have even led us into war.

For a number of reasons it is time to say that enough is enough and to make our nation and economy no longer dependent on oil from government cartels or hostile nations.

As a first step I propose that the Congress authorize the National Science Foundation and other agencies to increase funding significantly for grants for research to improve the technologies for wind, solar, geothermal and other potentially viable non-depleting sources of energy and also provide large tax credits for similar research by private companies with a goal of making these sources fully competitive, unsubsidized alternatives for the large scale production of power. We should support similar research to make cleaner and more efficient use of coal competitive with conventional use.

Next I propose that this nation make an immediate commitment to bring on line as soon as possible as many new nuclear power plants as may be needed both to generate additional electricity to sustain our growing economy and to provide electric power for such things as hybrids, electric vehicles, and hydrogen-fueled cars and trucks. I recommend that, using thirty years of advances in sensor and computer technology and design engineering, we seize the opportunity to deliver safe, non-polluting power in quantities sufficient for our needs, and that we move quickly with appropriate regulation but without the absurd lead times of the recent past.

I also recommend that the Congress extend major tax credits to businesses and individual taxpayers for modifications to their property that improve efficiency and conserve power, and that it reconsider and repeal any pseudo-conservation measures and mandates that are in fact only disguised pork.

Because for the foreseeable future we will need more oil for our cars and trucks than we can provide from our existing conventional oil fields, I propose that we begin a crash program to produce enough petroleum from our shale oil reserves to make our nation independent of oil imports from outside North America.

Whether one’s concern is based on worries about climate change, the national security risk of dependence on unreliable foreign suppliers, economic fears about the costs, or simply an unwillingness to be held up by scoundrels, all should agree that ending this dependence is in our self interest.

The steps I have proposed do not require any forced changes in our lifestyles or damage to our economy. Nor do they require us to harm our wilderness preserves, drill off the east or west coasts or worsen our environment. Besides being sensible, they should be palatable to most people across the political spectrum.

Many of the things proposed here will not require new funding by the governments but only changes in regulations or emphasis. Others will require new appropriations and should be funded by a combination of new taxes on imported oil, transfers from less important government programs, and borrowing against the day when we will see a much stronger national economy and significant savings from our efforts, including major savings in military expenditures in the Middle East. Let us begin now.

Of course all one can do is imagine. Such a set of proposals is certainly not optimal and shamelessly contains a little something for everyone from domestic producers to the global warming crowd. However it is better than relying on grass clippings, corn liquor and the benevolence of the Saudis, and something like it might be politically feasible. It also isn’t likely to happen from any of the current candidates.