Dawn of New Era

With so much media attention focused last week on coverage of Michael Jackson’s death, it is not surprising that most Americans are not aware the entire country has entered a new era. Maybe you felt the earth move just a bit last Friday when the vote came in on the so-called “climate change” bill in the House. By passing the comprehensive energy bill by a vote of 219 to 212, the House crossed a threshold never achieved before – one that sets out to change American energy policy.

It's not law yet...but it's moving!

I have been an observer of the many attempts by Congress to address this issue in a substantive way since 1973, and I’ve seen many serious attempts to reform energy policy get sucked into the powerful quicksand of the status quo. Nothing happens to change things. All efforts to do so disappear before your eyes.

But not this time.

Under the bill, greenhouse gases must be trimmed by 17 percent from 2005 levels and all by 2020. Utilities must also generate 15 percent of electricity from renewable energy sources by 2020. Energy efficiency gains of 8 percent are required by the same time. The overall goal is to cut carbon dioxide emissions by 80 percent by 2050.

This bill is a game changer. America’s utilities know it. Some generators of electricity fear the impact on their bottom line and on the economy in general. But they are also aware that if it is accompanied by initiatives to facilitate the development of new technologies in the market, it could work without slowing down economic growth. The growth – real growth – that results from this massive and complex effort could be the beginning of the paradigm shift that awaits this country in its new world leadership role on energy.

Now – on to the US Senate.

An Energy Plan with Depth

I don’t know about you but I’m tired of politically expedient politicians pandering for our votes with simple solutions to complex problems. I’m also tired of uninformed people allowing themselves to be so easily manipulated. This time, this year, this November, it has to be different.

John McCain says his energy policy consists of drilling in ANWR, and drilling offshore. Yes, that’s the ticket. T. Boone Pickens says in his recent TV advertisement “This is one crisis we can’t drill our way out of.” Who’s correct? Pickens, of course, certainly not McCain. Pickens knows the truth and is telling the American people. He knows the answer will involve a range of solutions that include aggressive development of alternative fuels, renewable energy sources, advanced technology in generating coal-fired electricity, construction of safe and secure nuclear generation facilities, and enhanced development of technology to extract petroleum from American oil shale – to name a few areas of national energy policy concentration.

That’s a lot to put on our plate, but we have to do it all. Americans need to stop looking to candidates to give them short-term knee jerk solutions to complex problems. That will not put us any closer to energy independence – which is what everyone wants. Energy independence is the only way we can regain control of our own economic destiny.

Look, when the first Arab oil embargo occurred in October 1973, lines formed around service stations, sometimes for miles, as Americans waited for gasoline. Politicians beat their breast and said “we must never again put ourselves at the mercy of the OPEC nations.” Yeah, right. We took that to heart, didn’t we? It’s time to get serious.

Obama has come to us in 2008, dismissing Hillary and John McCain’s idea of a gas tax holiday and other short term “solutions.” He has resisted the temptation to play their game. I find him refreshing in that he is truly seeking to put on the table the beginnings, at least, of a long range energy plan. He wants to:

1. Increase fuel economy standards

2. Invest in plug in hybrid electric vehicles

3. Develop the next generation of sustainable biofuels

4. Establish a national low carbon fuel standard

5. Develop and deploy clean coal technology

6. Invest in a “Smart Grid” for the reliable transmission of electricity

7. …and the list goes on and on.

I’m ready for a plan with depth and breath, aren’t you?

Of All Times, Why Not This Time

After the first OPEC oil embargo of 1973 – a time when I was working in the U.S. Senate – I heard one Senator ask another, “Why don’t we develop a long range plan to put America on the road to energy independence right now, so we don’t have to suffer a day when oil is finally running out and the price is going through the ceiling?” The other Senator, a governor before he was elected to the Senate some 30 years earlier, responded, “One thing I’ve learned about politics: you don’t solve a problem before the people believe they have one…(pause for dramatic effect)…because you won’t get credit for solving it.” Everyone laughed. I didn’t. I thought everyone could see clearly we had a serious national problem that needed to be addressed. But the old Senator was right. As soon as the embargo was lifted Americans went right back to buying their gas guzzlers and quickly forgot that a day of reckoning was coming.

Now, it’s 35 years later.

I'm stuck in traffic, every car is at a dead stop. As I contemplate the bumper of the SUV directly in front of me, I realize I can not see over, under, around or through this behemoth. How am I supposed to see brake lights on the SUV in front of it…or the next one?

As I sit in traffic, engine idling, I think about the $4 a gallon I just paid to fill this tank at the local Exxon station. I also begin to recall the pain imposed by that first OPEC oil embargo of October 1973.

That fall, prices rose dramatically and lines stretched as far as the eye could see in some cities as gas station inventory dropped. OPEC members found out they could influence world oil prices quickly, and Americans discovered their government had lost its ability to control the nation’s economic destiny.

So what did we do? We reduced the federal speed limit to 55, extended daylight saving time, and created a large federal agency where bureaucrats still sit and write national energy policies. One after the other. Shelves are full of them.

In other words, we turned a blind eye to the root of the problem, and soon forgot about the embargoes.

As soon as prices stabilized in the ‘80s, Boomers started looking for larger vehicles to transport their families, something that did not resemble their father’s station wagon. Manufacturers responded by putting a truck frame on a new kind of car – the sport utility vehicle. Some could carry an entire soccer team!

Of course, the SUV is not solely responsible for our increased oil consumption but it is emblematic of our refusal to come to grips with a problem that continues to threaten our economy and, indeed, our national security. Since 1973, America has doubled the amount of oil it imports to meet its daily requirements. That is unacceptable to me.

So, what is the answer?

I encourage you to join me in asking Barack Obama and John McCain what they plan to do about getting America on a path to energy independence. I’m not talking about just reducing consumption, I’m talking about true energy independence. Obama has already shown some leadership by refusing to go along with that “gas tax holiday” gimmick proposed by Hillary Clinton and endorsed by John McCain. We don't need more political expediency, we need political leadership!

Obama may our best hope in these times to find a political leader willing to make the hard choices and explain them to the American people without trying to make sure he “gets the credit.”

There are political risks in such decisions, to be sure, but we voters must allow our President and those legislators with the political fortitude to follow him to take those risks without fear of retribution. That last step may be the hardest.

If we, collectively, have the political will to solve this problem, there will be plenty of credit to go around, starting with the voters. Maybe this time, the voters will come to the conclusion they really do have a problem. Maybe this time, our leaders will do the job they should have done in 1973.