The Case for an Effective National Energy Policy
Largely missed among the news due to the upcoming election, the war in Iraq and the hue and cry of high energy prices was a small bit of news from the Gaza Strip. Palestinians, in an effort to work through the effects of the blockade and embargo that Israel has imposed, have faced rising fuel costs that are equivalent to nearly $100 a gallon. In an effort to have some normalcy, they have demonstrated that necessity is indeed the mother of invention and have successfully used regular car batteries to power a car and have achieved this despite a lack of sophisticated research facilities. On the other side of the blockade, the Israelis are about to engage in a test of an electric car that could possibly see use in America.
As America faces gas prices that average over $4.00 per gallon and home heating oil is pushing $5.00 a gallon, the cry for energy independence has been raised throughout the land. Calls for off-shore drilling of the oil reserves beneath the Continental Shelf and in Alaska and while the oil is certainly there, it only forestalls the problem of limited petroleum products in a world that is increasing its industrialization at an accelerated rate.
What is needed is an effective national energy policy that all politicians have failed to address for the last 30 years. There is no magic wand or silver bullet that will cure America's energy woes or allow us to continue to have the industrial growth that will keep Americans employed in large numbers. Instead, a multi-pronged approach is needed and while the market is responding, it needs prompting and direction. A national energy policy would be the prompting and tax incentives provides the direction.
The major tenets of an effective energy policy should include nuclear power, wind power, solar power, tax incentives for rechargeable electric cars, tax incentives for home energy efficiency improvements; federal loan support for home energy improvements and the list could easily be expanded as new technologies are developed.
Nuclear electrical generating plants would need to be geographically dispersed throughout the United States but close enough to industrial bases that the power supports industry. While there are many objections to nuclear power, there is no production of greenhouse gases from an operating nuclear power plant and they are capable of producing the huge amounts of power that an industrial nation like America needs. Wind and solar, which have their limits, could successfully add to the power mix in America to reduce the reliance on foreign energy, notably oil. In time, burning oil for the purpose of generating electricity should be the course of last resort and only utilized by those utilities that use natural gas and are duel fuel use capable.
Even with changes in the way America generates electricity the only way to cause a meaningful reduction in foreign oil is to reduce consumption of oil in the ways that Americans use the most oil and that is through the use of automobiles and home heating through the use of oil. Promising possibilities exist in the use of all electric cars and rechargeable hybrids that use battery power for the first 50 or 60 miles before resorting to an electrical generator. The all electric car would get an infinite number of miles with no oil use and the rechargeable electric car could easily achieve 100 to 160 miles to the gallon and for the person who uses it only for local commuting it would be similar to the all electric car.
The other energy home front is the home and the use of home heating oil. The technology exists to convert these homes to geothermal heat pumps which could achieve a payback in as little as 7 years depending on historical oil use and current oil prices. The problem is the up front costs of about $25,000 which is daunting to many home owners. This obstacle could be easily overcome through the creation of a federal energy savings loan program whereby the federal government assisted by guaranteeing the loan much as home loans are guaranteed through programs such as FHA and the Veterans Administration.
Other actions that Congress can take now include eliminating the tax credit expiration for hybrid vehicles, extending and expanding home energy improvement tax credits and introducing even larger tax credits for electric cars while introducing a tax penalty for vehicles that get poor gas mileage.
The failure of our elected officials to enact an effective national energy policy and the reality that it could take up to 20 years to achieve energy independence should not deter our national resolve. Sadly, we will avoid the tough, long-term solution and drill for more oil, rely on the modest improvements in mileage requirements and fool ourselves by buying bigger and bigger hybrid SUVs and defer this problem to our grandchildren.
Congress is supposed to reflect the will of the people and the people are suffering because of high oil prices and the inaction of Congress. If this congress can't or won't take action, then perhaps it is time to elect officials who make energy independence a political issue and who make a commitment to save America's future.