Commentary: An American-made solution to our energy crisis

Issue Date: November 1, 2006

By Rep. Devin Nunes

It is clear that Americans have reached a breaking point on energy prices. This is especially true for California farmers and ranchers. We need a comprehensive strategy that will reduce our dependence on foreign sources of oil, while bridging the gap to the next generation of energy.

Today, we import 65 percent of our petroleum needs, and the Energy Information Administration projects that in 20 years we will import even more of our petroleum. While this is a tenuous situation, it is exacerbated by the fact that two-thirds of the world's known oil reserves are located in the volatile Middle East. The nexus of this instability, as well as production slowdowns in Nigeria and Venezuela, and a virtual halt to energy exploration in the United States, have resulted in the price of oil reaching an all-time high.

Federal investments are needed to ensure breakthroughs in biotechnology, new feedstocks, harvesting, storage, transportation and processing to produce a sustainable domestic energy supply at a price competitive with fuel from the mature petroleum industry. Congress has a responsibility to deal with our nation's energy demands in a bi-partisan manner that benefits all Americans. For these reasons, 24 members of Congress from both parties introduced H.R. 5890, the American-Made Energy Freedom Act.

This bipartisan bill would provide short-term relief while funding a long-term solution for energy freedom. We would accomplish this by opening a small portion of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to exploration and investing the federal share of the lease and royalty revenue into an energy trust fund. This trust fund would be used to pay for numerous renewable, alternative and advanced energy programs. At $40 billion, over 30 years, this trust fund would be the largest investment in renewable, alternative and advanced energy in our nation's history--all at no cost to taxpayers.

Within the first two years of enactment of this proposal, renewable and alternative energy programs would receive billions of dollars in much-needed investments. This would include an infusion of investments into the next generation of ethanol (cellulosic), a deployment of coal-to-liquid technology, an expansion of the use of solar and fuel cell technology, and significant growth in the biofuel energy production industry. Moreover, the bill would fund numerous renewable energy provisions that were originally authorized in the Energy Policy Act and have yet to receive significant funding.

The proposals put forth in H.R. 5890 will have several benefits. First, it will assist us in meeting the Renewable Portfolio Standards set by many states. Second, it will significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Third, it will incubate technology rather than subsidize an industry. Finally, it will bridge the gap in our efforts to transition to home-grown energy and reduce our dependence on foreign oil.

Year after year we pay higher and higher prices for energy--whether at the pumps or in our home energy bills. This situation has stifled economic development, put our nation's security at risk and placed an unnecessary burden on the family budget. Americans need to come to grips with the onerous policies of the past that are strangling us now. This is an American-made problem that requires an American-made solution.

The public has sent a clear message to Congress: "Our nation needs more sources of domestic energy and we need it now." California farmers competing in a world economy cannot wait nor can we afford to be held hostage by foreign interests. Crude oil has been the fuel of choice for more than a century, and our past addiction to cheap foreign oil has led us to this crisis. Now is the time for change.

We are in the midst of the global war on terrorism in which the certified state sponsors of terrorism are the same radicals we rely on for our petroleum needs. We simply cannot keep sending American money to fund fanatical regimes that are determined to destroy our way of life. It is time for energy freedom, it is time for energy security and it is time for action on an American-made solution. As Congress returns to Washington in January, we need to undertake serious debate and action on our nation's energy crisis.

(Rep. Devin Nunes, a second-term Congressman from the San Joaquin Valley, has turned his farm-spun work ethic into an aggressive legislative agenda in Washington, D.C. that pays significant dividends to the residents of the 21st District. He may be contacted at www.nunes.house.gov.)

Permission for use is granted, however, credit must be made to the California Farm Bureau Federation when reprinting this item. Top