“All of the Above” Is Not an Energy Policy
- Dan Lashof
- Director, Climate Center, Washington, D.C.
- Blog | About
- Posted July 24, 2008 in Moving Beyond Oil
Some members of Congress are trying to lift the moratorium that protects parts of our Outer Continental Shelf and the Arctic Wildlife Refuge from harmful oil drilling. They are giving a token nod to the real solutions – energy efficiency and renewables – and calling this skewed package an “all of the above” energy plan. In fact, “all of the above” is the very same irresponsible energy non-policy that has gotten us into the mess that we are in today. This energy proposal is nothing more than the oil and coal industry’s wish list with lip service for renewable energy sprinkled in. It would not lower gas prices, but it would hurt all Americans by making global warming worse, increasing heat-trapping carbon dioxide (CO2) by more than 500 million tons per year compared to a responsible approach.
“All of the above” supporters claim that drilling off our precious coasts and in the Arctic Wildlife Refuge could lead to production of as much as 4 million barrels per day (nearly two decades from now). According to the Energy Information Administration, these claims are wildly exaggerated. However, even if they are taken at face value, the alternative of producing the same amount of oil using CO2-enhanced oil recovery would sequester 200 million tons of CO2 per year.
The “all of the above” plan also calls for producing 2.5 million barrels per day from oil shale. Again, there are many reasons to doubt the feasibility of this claim, but if it could be done it would not only devastate the heart of the Rocky Mountains, it would require so much energy to extract oil from the rock that CO2 emissions would be increased by another 300 million tons.
The “all of the above” plan also calls for repealing environmental standards for government fuel procurement to open the door to coal-to-liquids plants with double the carbon dioxide emissions from conventional petroleum. While the plan does not have a specific target for coal-to-liquids production, the coal industry has promoted a plan to mine an additional 1.3 billion tons of coal per year to produce 2.6 million barrels per day of liquid fuel as well as other energy sources. The result would be massive destruction in the coal fields and an increase in carbon dioxide emissions by a whopping 2.6 billion tons per year.
Responsible leaders make responsible choices. “All of the above” is nothing but a recipe for disaster.
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Comments
Dan Troutman — Jul 24 2008 08:41 PM
I think I'd rather take my chances on "global warming" rather than turn the U.S. into a 3rd world country due to lack of cheap energy. Whether you like to admit it or not, one of the main reasons America has built up a booming economy was the availability of RELIABLE, CHEAP energy. Renewable energy sources like wind and solar are UNRELIABLE plain and simple. The wind doesn't always blow and the sun doesn't always shine.
Call me a realist, but I seriously doubt that America will be able to erect the 100,000 - 300,000 wind turbines necessary to start picking up the coal generation capacity in 10 or even 20 years. I wonder if NRDC and other organizations will back windmill placement if it involves federal lands or other wildlife areas? I'd like to see NRDC combat the "Not In My Backyard" pushback that will eventually occur when that many turbines have to be built. I'd be real disappointed if you then claim that wind turbines decrease property values, are "ugly", kill migrating birds, create noise pollution, cause cancer, etc.
In my opinion, it'll take a combination of actions to "transform" America to another cheap, reliable energy source. The real disaster will be when America doesn't have enough transportation fuel available and the economy literally grinds to a halt.