: Arctic Lobbying Team
Subject: [ak_lobby] NYT Editorial: "A Waste of Energy"
Sent to JETPAC: (AK Comms, AK Lobby, E-Strat, OCS, C-Team)
The New York Times
June 26, 2006
Editorial
A Waste of Energy
The House leadership has proclaimed this week "House Energy Week," as if
nomenclature alone could conjure up a useful response to the country's
dependence on foreign oil, or the threat of global warming, or even
$3-a-gallon gasoline, which — let's face it — is what really worries our
elected representatives as they head home to face the voters over the
July 4 recess.
As the nickel-and-dime agenda suggests, "energy week," which may not last
even five days, is a joke. There is one bill calling for further research
into hybrid cars, another subsidizing solar demonstration projects,
another encouraging more efficient tires. All are useful, all terribly
modest given overall needs. And then there's our personal favorite for
the fox-in-the-henhouse award, a proposal to give $10 million to the
automobile and oil industries to teach the public how to save gasoline.
The only big item is a bill from Representative Richard Pombo, the
California Republican, that would end a longstanding federal moratorium
on oil and gas drilling on the Outer Continental Shelf, subject to state
approval. While perhaps three-quarters of known coastal oil and gas
reserves are already open for drilling, mainly in the Gulf of Mexico, and
while the environmental problems of further drilling are obvious, Mr.
Pombo's proposal would be worth entertaining if it were linked, say, to a
serious effort to reduce demand by sharply raising fuel economy
standards.
But the House is dominated by people who believe that a country that
consumes one-quarter of the world's oil while possessing 3 percent of the
world's reserves can somehow drill its way to energy independence. And
that means that the worthy proposals that do exist to increase
conservation and efficiency won't get the time of day.
If there is any serious conservation to be had this year on energy, it is
likely to take place in the Senate, which has before it two similar,
comprehensive bills aimed at reducing oil dependency and, in the bargain,
sharply reducing greenhouse gas emissions. These bills would require that
oil consumption be cut by 50 percent over the next quarter-century and
would provide a broad array of tools to get there — loans, direct
subsidies, tax breaks and other incentives to encourage the production of
fuel-efficient cars, for instance, as well as alternatives to gasoline
like cellulosic ethanol.
Just getting a start on one of these big bills would be a plus. House
members have introduced 267 energy-related bills this year, and senators
have introduced 210. Everyone wants to be seen to be doing something.
What those numbers really add up to is close to 477 excuses to do next to
nothing.
*~~~~~~~~~~~*
Peter A. Rafle, Jr
Senior Director, Advocacy Communications
The Wilderness Society
1615 M St. NW
Washington, DC 20036
(202) 429-2642
(202) 431-2807 cell
[log in to unmask]
www.Wilderness.org
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Sign up to receive Sierra Club Insider, the flagship
e-newsletter. Sent out twice a month, it features the Club's
latest news and activities. Subscribe and view recent
editions at http://www.sierraclub.org/insider/
|
