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Full Energize America proposal released
Daily Kos
Following is the fifth version of a Kossack-generated strategic energy plan designed to provide the United States with energy security by 2020 and energy independence by 2040.
After posting the executive summary yesterday, here is Draft Five of the full plan, as edited under the leadership of George Karayannis. After the careful reading of more than ten thousand comments and lengthy discussions, we have proposing a legislative programme which includes 20 Acts and is meant to be taken as a whole. This document targets politicians and their staffs, pundits, academics and other specialists involved in policy analysis and discussion. Other documents will be provided for wider distribution to the public, including bumper stickers, “elevator pitch”, “credit card” and flyer versions of Energize America, using direct language and simple targets. These will be proposed for discussion in forthcoming diaries.
We expect to produce a final version in the coming weeks, on the basis of your comments today and in subsequent diaries that will explore various parts of the plan, to be unveiled formally during the energy panel at YearlyKos in Las Vegas on June 9.
(18 May 2006)
A PDF version is available.
Government Reform Committee Report: ‘Securing America’s Energy Future’
California Chronicle
Washington, D.C. — Rep. Tom Davis (R-VA), Chairman of the House Government Reform Committee and Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA), Chairman of the Government Reform Subcommittee on Energy and Resources, today released a majority staff report entitled “Securing America’s Energy Future.” The Report is the result of a year-long series of hearings examining the energy crisis facing the nation. The report concludes that the current energy crisis is an economic and national security threat of such magnitude that governmental action is necessary to provide for the common defense and general welfare of the United States.
In releasing the report, Chairman Davis said, “This report is part of the Committee’s ongoing oversight responsibility, and it is important that the Subcommittee’s work and findings be available to the public as well as policymakers in Congress and the Executive Branch. The ongoing energy debate is one of the most important in a decade. This report and its conclusions serve as our contribution to that dialogue.”
Issa, whose subcommittee conducted the series of hearings, said, “It is imperative that the country not only wean itself from imported oil but that we also take steps to avoid an unnecessary reliance on natural gas for electricity generation. I am convinced that as part of our energy solution we should strive to have base load electricity generated from nuclear power as is done in France, where 78 percent of electricity comes from nuclear. By utilizing other sources of energy to generate electricity we can reduce demand for importing natural gas and keep it affordable for its most essential uses.”
Issa stressed that improving fuel economy is important to U.S. competitiveness in addition to helping break the chains of oil dependency. “CAFE standards must be addressed. It is the federal government’s responsibly to set standards on many products in the marketplace. Had we done so years ago, American car makers would not have the all difficulties they do today. By failing to recognize growing demands for oil and acting to upgrade the standards, the government has contributed to American automobile manufacturers losing an edge to foreign competition.”
(8 May 2006)
The article is probably a press release, though the source is not specified.
The PDF version of the report is 41 pages long.
Kick the Oil Habit campaign kicks off
Center for American Progress Action Fund,
There is a better way. America can no longer rely on oil as the lifeblood of our economy. It is time to demand new homegrown alternatives that we can adopt today. Clean renewable energy will cut pollution and end our dependence on imported fuel that hamstrings our growth and national security. Energy efficiency will save consumers money now and make our economy more productive for the future.
It is time for a real forward looking energy plan, a plan that breaks our addiction to oil once and for all by investing in alternatives, deploying new technology like bio-fuels in the tanks of our cars, and wind and solar power for generating our electricity. It is time for leadership to end our collision course with climate change, and to stop the scramble to control dwindling supplies of oil at ever increasing cost.
A serious plan that makes a difference in the lives and security of all Americans will:
* Give consumers choices in the fuels they use, by doubling the number of E85 ethanol pumps available at gas stations within the year, and setting a goal of installing E85 pumps in half of all gas stations within the decade.
* Put more flexible fuel vehicles (FFVs) that can run on high blends of ethanol on the road, by requiring that new cars and government fleets be able to run on ethanol, and by ensuring that the owners of the over 5 million flexible fuel cars already on the road today are notified and informed of the nearest pump.
* Set a binding national goal for oil savings, so that all Americans work together to conserve our natural resources, getting more value from the energy we use, and reducing the $300,000 that America spends on imported oil every minute.
* Help ease the burden of high energy prices today, especially on working families hardest hit by high prices, by protecting against price gouging, and expanding short term relief for consumers through the earned income tax credit or other refundable credits that increase economic relief.
* Set standards to ensure that a portion of our electricity comes from clean renewable sources like wind. solar and efficiency, and establish a Clean Energy Investment Authority, Clean Renewable Energy Bonds, and State grant programs to ensure that clean energy projects are financed and built, making our electrical grid more resilient and secure, and diversifying our electricity supply.
The following groups support the Kick the Oil Habit campaign: Natural Resources Defense Council Action Fund, MoveOn.org, Consumers Union, Apollo Alliance, Californians for Clean Energy, Environmental Action, Oil Change International. Vote Solar
(May 2006)
Democrats Offer Alternative to Republican Energy Plan
Michael, Janofsky, NY Times
WASHINGTON, May 17 — Senate Democrats on Wednesday fueled the debate over rising gas prices by introducing an energy bill they said would do more to wean the country off foreign oil than the plan advanced three weeks ago by Republicans.
The bill would cut domestic oil consumption to 12 million barrels a day in 2020 from about 20 million barrels, its supporters say. It calls for expanding the use of alternative fuels for vehicles, in part by requiring more federally owned vehicles to use them, and by ensuring that more service stations sell them.
The bill would also revoke subsidies for the oil industry, increase subsidies for the renewable fuels industry and restore aid to low-income Americans struggling to pay energy bills.
“We need lower gas prices and energy independence,” the minority leader, Senator Harry Reid of Nevada, said at a news conference with nine other Democrats. “Republican leaders have proposed the same old solution: drill, drill, drill. But drill, drill, drill is not going to deliver the results we need.”
The fight over how to respond to gasoline prices of more than $3 a gallon has become an especially pitched debate as the midterm elections approach and as Republicans fight to maintain control of both houses of Congress. But the Democrats, who do not control crucial committees or the schedule that brings legislation to the floor, appear to have scant hope of passing their proposals.
(18 May 2006)
