Energy Policy and the Environment

The United States has never had a comprehensive and well-articulated energy policy. It’s time.

The goals of my energy policy are:

• Maintain long term energy availability
• Increase GDP energy efficiency (reduce the amount of energy used per dollar of GDP)
• Keep economic cost as low as possible, and maintain price stability
• Minimize human health costs from energy use
• Minimize environmental costs from energy use
  -ecosystems, natural beauty
  -agriculture, logging, infrastructure

Major components of my energy policy (more details are presented below)

• Reduce reliance on petroleum by increasing transportation efficiency using CAFE standards.
• Greatly reduce emissions from coal power plants by closing loophole in 1990 Clean Air Act. A study by the GAO has shown that the benefit/cost ratio from this action would be greater than 10!
• Reduce natural gas and coal consumption by promoting efficiency with tiered pricing structures. I like to call this the “McMansion” policy. Square footage of new homes has been increasing drastically in the last decade. We need to encourage people to live efficiently. We learned during the California energy crisis in the 90’s that electricity consumption can be drastically reduced through personal choices.
• Promote wind power by increasing and making permanent the tax credit for wind power. Wind power is the long term answer! It’s already cost effective, and there is enough potential wind power in the midwest alone to provide all the current energy needs of the country! Wind power has been growing 30-50% per year. We should set a goal of annual growth of wind power of 100%!
• Streamline the process for licensing safe non-breeder nuclear reactors. I support nuclear power because it produces no air pollution and no greenhouse gases. Current designs are extremely safe and efficient. Yes, nuclear power produces waste that must be stored safely for a very long time, and that is a significant negative. But it is a lesser evil when compared to the costs of using fossil fuels.
• Increase transportation research funding for electric cars. President Bush has been putting all our eggs in one basket through his funding of hydrogen research.

Politically realistic things we could do now:

• Target old, dirty, and inefficient coal power plants with specific legislation that requires BACT for emissions. (This will reverse the Bush administration’s decision not to enforce the 1990 interpretation.) Reduce annual SOx cap by 6.5 million tons, achieved in 10 years.
• Initiate permanent reductions and cap for stationary NOx sources with market-based emis. allowances. Reduce annual stat. source NOx emissions by 2.5 million tons over 10 years.
• Enforce new non-road vehicle emission standards announced by Bush admin. (suggest 1.5 million ton/year reduction in 10 years)
• Merge car and light truck CAFE into one fleet at current average level of 24.1 mpg. Increase 0.5 mpg/year indefinitely/10 years.
• Eliminate year-round oxygenation requirement for RFG, with no- back-sliding provision (within 5% total emissions; keep phase II RFG provisions); maintain winter oxygenation req. The RFG program is inefficient, costly, and has questionable benefits.
• Make permanent the current 1.8 cents/kWh tax credit for wind power. Gaps in this program significantly slow down the industry. Work to increase the tax credit.

I have a many more details that I can discuss in person....

• Petroleum (oil) ~39%
• Natural Gas ~24%
• Coal ~23%
• Nuclear ~8%
• Others (mostly hydroelectric and ethanol) ~6%