CONSERVATIVE ENERGY PLAN

New Report Charts Clear Path for Energy Reform; Sets Stage for High-Level Energy Symposium on April 21 in Washington, DC
April 7, 2009 (Reform Institute)

SUMMARY
Reforming American Energy: Overcoming Reliance and Ensuring Reliability, a new energy policy proposal from the Reform Institute, proposes to generate ideas and explore solutions to power the U.S. future.

Arguing that “bipartisan cooperation and leadership” is necessary to achieve needed reform of U.S. energy policy, the report precedes a symposium with which the Institute hopes to initiate “a constructive dialogue among various and diverse constituencies…”

In pursuit of illustrating the necessities and realities of a successful, diverse, and enduring energy policy, the report reviews the U.S. energy portfolio and U.S. energy policies.

It concludes the U.S. is in a “reliance crisis” caused more by its reliance on oil than by the quantities it imports. The report's proposed solution is not a simple or quick fix. It requires an “absolute transformation” to sustainability in the production and use of energy.

Though past energy strategies, including reliance on oil, were crucial to U.S. ascendance, “recent economic volatility, failed and inadequate policy directives, projected future demand for energy, and mounting global competition for the same 'pot' of energy resources” represent a perfect storm to which the only response is change.

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The U.S. has the technology and resources to change. It requires all options. New Energy must be a major objective. Old Energies are the bridge. Solutions should come through the private sector. The Federal role should be policy-making to (1) create regulatory certainty, (2) allow access to resources and (3) support innovation of breakthrough technologies.

Key areas of change:
(1) The transportation sector. The U.S. cannot achieve the needed changes fast enough with any single approach. Efficiencies must come from fuel economy standards, reducing traffic congestion, improving technology, and changing transportation behavior.
(2) The grid must be made high-voltage, national and smart.
(3) The report describes its position on energy sources in essentially “John McCain, all-of-the-above” terms: “The United States and North America possess extraordinary energy resources ranging from an abundance of coal and natural gas, petroleum, uranium for nuclear fission, geothermal, and renewable resources. For the United States to achieve its national public policy goal of reducing reliance on energy resources from unfriendly foreign sources, it must choose to tap all available types of energy…”

The current crisis, the report asserts, is the result of past policies favoring one political constituency or geographical region over others.

Referring to the most recently available technologies (meaning New Energy), the report describes energy's future as “bright” and calls for “comprehensive energy reform that bolsters national security and resilience, enhances the economy, and promotes energy and environmental sustainability.”

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COMMENTARY
The Reform Institute defines itself as nonpartisan but its place on the political spectrum is clear from the keynote speakers, Senator John McCain (R-Ariz) and Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-Ak), scheduled for its April 21 National Energy Symposium. Though Senators McCain and Murkowski are among the most admirably moderate of Republicans, the term nonpartisan is simply inaccurate. It makes the entire endeavor suspect. What else aren't they revealing?

The Democrats bring energy plans with economic as well as social equitability directly from the admittedly liberal Center for American Progress and offer them up for criticism from all angles. A "reform" institute using obvious Republican rhetoric masking itself as "nonpartisan" is simply offensive. Honest Abe Lincoln would be embarrassed for his Grand Old Party.

Nevertheless, party affiliation is in no way as important as policy position. Leaders at all points on the political spectrum see the need for New Energy and Energy Efficiency for a variety of reasons. The Institute’s list of those reasons: (1) The impact of volatile fuel prices on the economy; (2) National security concerns about relying on oil from unfriendly regimes and politically unstable regions; (3) Growing apprehension about climate change.

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It is a list not very different than the one in Green Recovery from the Obama-backing Center for American Progress: “…[O]ur analysis shows that a targeted $100 billion down payment on a better energy future...will lead to reduced oil consumption and spur our transition to a low-carbon economy, providing us with energy and environmental security…”

Perhaps there is a more nationalistic impulse informing the Reform Institute’s arguments, designed to appeal to a slightly different constituency than arguments from more liberal groups who tend to emphasize the economic opportunities that New Energy and Energy Efficiency represent.

What it comes down to is this: Motivations differ but objectives are pretty similar on the left and the right, regardless of who writes the report. There would be a fight over nuclear energy if it were affordable. Some are passionately FOR the inevitability of fossil fuels over the next 2-to-3 decades while others are passionately against it. The only real question is how long those passions will delay action on climate change.

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RESPONSE FROM THE REFORM INSTITUTE
Chris Dreibelbis, Communications and Economic Policy Director, Reform Institute: "While the Reform Institute appreciates NewEnergyNews posting on our new report on comprehensive energy reform and our April 21 national energy symposium in Washington, DC, we take issue with the questioning of our motives. In regards to the symposium speakers, we have reached out to several prominent Democrats to speak and are still actively pursuing a Democrat for the closing speaker spot.

"The sessions at the symposium will include participants from a wide array of perspectives, including representatives from the American Wind Energy Association, Bipartisan Policy Center, Google, Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, and the Democratic staff of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, along with energy producers involved in traditional and alternative energy, and energy users exploring innovative ways to consume energy. The forum will use a seminar-style format to encourage real dialogue between participants in each session towards discussing the issues in a productive manner. It will not be a series of PowerPoint presentations.

"The Reform Institute has worked to promote bipartisanship in addressing critical public policy issues. Our work on comprehensive immigration reform and campaign finance reform has been labeled liberal by many. The report we released yesterday lays out our vision for the direction U.S. energy policy should take based on the immensity of the challenge we face and the options available to us. As with any comprehensive proposal there is plenty for observers to take issue with and they are welcome to put forward their own proposals and explain how those goals can be realistically achieved. That is how the policy process should work and we welcome such dialogue and debate."

QUOTES
- Cecilia Martinez, Executive Director, Reform Institute: “It is now generally recognized that energy reform will be critical for long-term economic growth, strengthening national security and resilience, and promoting environmental stewardship.”

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- Cecilia Martinez, Executive Director, Reform Institute: “The Reform Institute is bringing its dedication to strengthening the foundations of our democracy…By achieving sustainability in our energy and environmental policies, the U.S. will become more resilient – able to confront the challenges it faces and emerge a stronger nation…”
- Cecilia Martinez, Executive Director, Reform Institute: “Confronting this complex issue will require a level of leadership and national commitment that is rare in this age of political partisanship and gridlock. Only through fundamental reform that restores accountability, transparency and efficacy to the political process can we expect to set a new direction in energy policy…By advancing new technologies and processes to produce and utilize energy, we can create profitable new products and markets that will benefit American industry and our economy…The Reform Institute is committed to creating such an environment; this report is the first step.”

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- Ken Nahigian, report author, Nahigian Strategies, LLC/senior advisor, Reform Institute Center for Energy and Environmental Progress: “An enormous opportunity exists for the United States to take the requisite steps to reverse its downward energy spiral and reduce, if not eliminate, reliance on unfriendly foreign energy sources and strengthen national resilience…The new Administration and the 111th Congress must put all energy options on the table and set aside partisan and parochial interests for the long-term welfare of the Nation.”