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Negotiators Close In on Energy Measure
Steven Mufson, Washington Post
Bill Raises Ethanol, Efficiency Targets; Fuel Credits for Auto Industry at Issue
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Congressional negotiators are nearing agreement on the components of an energy bill that would boost fuel efficiency standards for vehicles and require vast increases in the use of biofuels, according to congressional aides and lobbyists.
The auto industry and its champion, House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman John D. Dingell (D-Mich.), have accepted the target of achieving an average of 35 miles a gallon for each carmaker’s fleet of new U.S. vehicles by 2020, set in the version of the bill passed by the Senate in June. However, Dingell and the automakers appeared to have won concessions extending fuel efficiency credits for flexible-fuel vehicles and creating separate mileage standards for cars and light trucks.
(29 November 2007)
Candidates Offer Different Views on Energy Policy
Edmund L. Anderews, New York Times
As oil prices flirt with record highs, hovering around $95 a barrel on Tuesday, the Democratic and Republican presidential candidates are offering few quick fixes but profoundly different long-term approaches to energy policy.
Over the next decade or two, the differences could have a major effect on billions of dollars in government spending, on the relative prices of gasoline versus renewable fuels and on the efficiency of American cars and trucks.
For Democrats, the goal of energy policy is largely about reducing oil consumption and has become inseparable from the goal of reducing the risk of climate change.
For the Republican candidates, energy policy is primarily about producing more energy at home – more oil and gas drilling on the Outer Continental Shelf and in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge; more use of American coal to produce liquid fuel; and, as with Democrats, more renewable fuels like ethanol.
By contrast, all of the Democratic candidates would repeal billions of dollars in tax breaks for oil companies, spend billions more each year to develop alternative fuels, and require cars and trucks to be far more fuel-efficient.
(27 November 2007)
How not to make an energy policy
Kristina & Jason Makansi, Gristmill
A strong and realistic energy policy is not dependent on any one fuel, technology, or supplier
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First a caveat: When it comes to electricity generation, I (Jason) am an agnostic. In other words, I try to evaluate energy sources on their own merits, from cradle to grave, and I try my best to keep ideology out of the analysis.
When we’re talking about our energy future, it is essential to look at the big picture. We should evaluate each fuel source — its pros, cons, and its potential for the future — in light of all the geopolitical, economic, and environmental challenges we face. We should develop a comprehensive plan that maximizes energy potential, minimizes risk, and makes room for new technological developments.
There are two things we absolutely must not do:
1. turn reactionary decisions based on short-term situations into long-term policy, and
2. base our energy future on wishful thinking. Speaking of coal and CO2 sequestration …
(27 November 2007)
More of the ongoing conversation on energy policy at the environmentalist news site Gristmill. Peak oil is sometimes mentioned, but global warming is the main consideration. -BA
In Texas, Climate Creeping onto Agenda
John Burnett, Morning Edition (National Public Radio – NPR)
Texas emits more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere than any other state. And if Texas were a country, it would be the seventh-largest carbon dioxide polluter in the world.
Texas’s high carbon dioxide output and large energy consumption is primarily a result of large coal-burning power plants and gas-guzzling vehicles, both of which contribute to the pollution problem. But while many Texans think bigger is better, there are signs of an attitude change on energy consumption.
Climate activists say that giant 14-mile-per-gallon Chevy Suburbans – once marketed as the National Car of Texas – are part of the problem.
Texas is the nation’s largest energy hog because it has a lot of industry, a lot of people, a lot of air conditioning, a lot of miles and a lot of big cars.
(26 November 2007)
