Frances Beinecke's Blog
Congress Has Been Having the Wrong Energy Conversation
August 5, 2008
Posted by Frances Beinecke in Moving Beyond Oil , Solving Global Warming
Congress spent last week engaged in the wrong debate: "should we or should we not expand offshore drilling?" The right conversation to be having is: "Are we going to move America backward in time or forward to a clean energy future that unleashes new and efficient technologies and starts slashing global warming pollution?"
Paul Krugman wrote in the New York Times that outrage is the proper response to last week’s debate. It is outrageous that in the face of the combined energy and economic crises, our representatives are fighting over a false solution that will not save consumers money at the pump but will worsen the urgent crisis of our time: global warming.
Extending oil addiction through offshore drilling is yesterday’s debate. How we structure comprehensive energy and climate legislation to revitalize the economy is the question of today.
Offshore drilling—a puny proposal that the government’s own studies say will have “an insignificant” effect on the cost of oil—doesn't even help the driving public now. Instead, Americans remain saddled with the same old problems: more pollution, more reliance on outdated fuels, and more delays in facing the reality of global warming.
The sooner Congress starts talking about how to create a cleaner energy future, the sooner Americans will get real, long-lasting solutions: millions of plug-in hybrid cars that run on almost no gasoline, electricity generated from solar and wind, biofuels grown through environmentally sustainable practices, and greater public transportation choices for more communities.
Americans Say they Want Renewables More than Drilling
The recent Quinnipiac poll indicates that these solutions are what the American public wants. When asked which is the best way to help solve the energy crisis and make America less dependent on foreign oil, voters in four key swing states resoundingly chose clean energy over more oil drilling. In Wisconsin, 59 percent of voters chose renewable energy as the best solution, while only 6 percent selected drilling. In Michigan and Minnesota, it was 56 percent for renewables, and 18 for drilling, and in Colorado, 54 to 21 percent.
New Solutions Not Old Debates
America wants solutions not debates. The solutions are out there, and yet pro oil industry members of Congress are blocking action on them. Members are now home for the recess. It behooves all of us to tell them that we want a new clean energy future, and that renewables are at the center of that. Other nations (Denmark, Germany, Spain) get as much as 20 percent of their power from renewables. We have a lot of sun and a lot of wind, we can too, but we need the policies that will unleash that potential. How we put those solutions in place—that’s the conversation we should be having. That is talk of the future, not the past.
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Comments
Dan Troutman — Aug 6 2008 11:34 AM
I don't think average Americans think we can drill our way out of our oil dependence, rather the majority would like to drill to provide a longer "buffer" for America to switch over to a better transportation system. Some estimate it will take as long as 50 years to accomplish such a massive shift (sorry Mr. Gore, but it ain't gonna happen in 10 years).
Look at all the bickering going on in Congress this year - do you think they'll be able to even plan and execute such a massive switch? Hardly. Congress can't even get a vote on continuing the Renewable Energy Investment Credit that would continue to make new wind turbine farms attractive to new investors. How foolish can we be?
I'm still skeptical when it comes to polls. Some studies have shown that building 100,000 to 300,000 wind turbines will triple the cost per kilowatt/hour. I wonder what the answer to "Do you favor renewable energy if it costs up to three times as much?"
Renewable energy is a good idea, but it may not be a practical or as affordable as people might imagine.
I sincerely hope that this year's Congress (which has passed the fewest bills in the last decade) will get their act together and vote on some simple, concrete solutions for America's impending energy crisis. Election year politics and pandering are only delaying the inevitable next year. Better start drilling now because it's going to be a LONG, ugly, eye-opening process! :)
Charles — Aug 6 2008 02:59 PM
Why is it that everyone is worried about the oil when we should be trying to find more ways to reduce the amount of oil being used.
I set here wondering why is it that when a company design a product that can reduce the power used here in the United States or around the world by 10 to 20 percent. But no one seems to care that this alone would reduce our Co2 footprint by million and millions of tons every year.There are many product such as ours that can help here now why don't we take them serious and get the information like this out to the public.
You Write articalsabout the envirorment why don't you help the public find these product now