More Domestic Options Need to be Explored

If America’s economy is to grow and create the new jobs we will need in the future, significantly more energy will be required. Restricting access to energy hurts the economy, drives incentives down and drives up prices. For 30 years America has talked about energy independence, instead we are more dependent than ever. Because of weak politicians, we have lost these years by decision through indecision.

Governmental policies should encourage research production and development of ALL kinds of energy resources.

Specifically the U.S. government needs to:

• Fast track nuclear power production. France generates 80% of its electricity from nuclear power. China currently has 22 nuclear plants under construction. Why not us? Nuclear power is cheap, does not pollute and releases no carbon dioxide. Even the founder of Greenpeace agrees in nuclear power.
• Increase domestic drilling. The Department of the Interior estimates there are 19 billion barrels of oil in currently restricted areas, an amount equivalent to 30 years of imports from Saudi Arabia. America’s single greatest concentrations of untapped oil  – an estimated 10 billion barrels – lies near the edge of Alaska’s 19.6 million acre Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR). As with deep water drilling, advances in technology have greatly reduced the environmental impact and risk of spills.
• Develop oil from layers of shale found in the American West. Potentially hundreds of billions of barrels of oil lies trapped there on federally owned lands subject to Department of Interior control.
• Build new oil refineries. No new refinery has been built in the U.S. for over 30 years in part because of the massive and complicated maze of federal regulations.
• Encourage use of clean coal. America is the Saudi Arabia of coal production. Many electric utilities depend on coal for 40% or more of the fuel they use. This cannot be replaced quickly or easily by other sources of energy.
• Encourage development of alternative fuels – solar, hydrogen, wind, and geothermal. By combining renewable and domestic energy resources, we can further our nation’s goal of eliminating our foreign dependency on energy sources.

Last year, a study by ICF International said tapping our own energy resources would generate $1.7 trillion in federal revenue, create thousands of jobs and make us more energy secure.

The solution to our energy crisis lies in doing an all-of-the above approach.