Look to US sources of energy; we shoot ourselves in the foot
Although we occupy only 6.5% of the world's land mass, the US is lucky to be home to more of its potential energy than any other country on earth. The problem has been that we have systematically denied ourselves the jobs and the dollars that our energy
could produce for us. We have locked up incredible quantities of oil and gas in Alaska and the Outer Continental Shelf. We have shut down the expansion of the nuclear power industry, pollution-free and carbon-free for those who obsess about these matters
Amazingly, we haven't lost the knack for shooting ourselves in the foot. No sooner were fabulous new amounts of shale gas confirmed in states such as PA and NY than antigrowth activists and politicians began conspiring to block access to them, on the
flimsiest of environmental claims. Even ethanol, once a darling of the renewable energy left, has fallen from favor, over contorted calculations of its overall carbon impact and erroneous projections that its wider use would make food unaffordable.
The upside for America, in new energy industry jobs, is too large for us to continue a suicidal national policy. That includes renewable sources. I join with those who look forward to the rapid growth of wind and solar power, and unlike many of my free
market allies, I believe in some degree of subsidy and research to jump-start their arrival as meaningful energy contributors. In the last few years, Indiana has led America in the growth of wind power, with our administration's active encouragement.
[However], at the fastest growth rates one can imagine, wind and solar power will still be trivial contributors to our total energy needs for a very long time. And the romantic notion that they will become large sources of "green jobs" in any year soon
has been exploded as farcically out of touch with economic reality. We should encourage alternative forms of energy, but it is a willful self-delusion to maintain that these forms of energy are in any sense a "solution" to our economic challenge.
Biofuels oversubsidized but should still be encouraged
Allow me to anger the free market right, of which I consider myself a card-carrying member. I part company when purism rules out, for instance, any encouragement of homegrown biofuels. To me, an all-in assessment of the national interest argues for
continued action to expand the use of made-in-America biofuels alongside that of traditional domestic energies. Every gallon of fuel we produce domestically allows us to buy that much less fuel from foreign countries.
Creating domestic sources of energy is a national security issue as well as an economic one. Biofuels have been oversubsidized through their adolescence, and I agree that it is
time for these subsidies, including the indirect ones of trade barriers, to be phased out. But I respectfully defend the notion of a mandated presence for biofuels in the national energy mix.
Make IN a leader in electric vehicles & solar power industry
In 2009, several young companies who may lead the electric vehicle industry chose Indiana for their plants. Many of their suppliers are following them. Our goal is to be the capital of this potentially massive industry of tomorrow.
Over the last two years, Indiana has been the fastest growing state in wind power, and now businesses seeking to build the equipment for this new industry are coming. Within weeks, you'll see us explode onto the solar power landscape.
Source: Indiana 2010 State of the State Address
, Jan 19, 2010
Support clean coal as well as alternative energy
Indicate which principles you support regarding energy.
Promote increased use of alternative fuel technology.
Support increased production of traditional domestic energy sources (e.g. coal, natural gas, oil, etc).
Support providing financial
incentives to farms that produce biofuel crops.
Support funding for improvements to Indiana's power generating and transmission facilities.
Limit carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases linked to global warming.
Daniels adds, "Indiana has an
excellent record on alternative energy, with growing capacity for wind generation, biomass, geothermal, biofuels, and clean coal (including carbon storage and sequestration). We are building one of the nation's largest wind farms in the northeast part
of our state, and have one of the largest bio-diesel production facilities in the world being constructed. We have a 'brownfields' program to remediate contaminated sites. We completed the state's largest acquisition of conservation land in 2006."
Daniels endorsed setting goal of 25% renewable energy by 2025
A resolution that it is the goal of the United States that, not later than January 1, 2025, the agricultural, forestry, and working land of the US should provide from renewable resources not less than 25% of the total energy consumed and continue to produce safe, abundant, and affordable food, feed, and fiber. [Governors also signed letters of endorsement at www.25x25.org]
Rep. SALAZAR: "Our resolution establishes a national goal of producing 25% of America's energy from renewable sources--like solar, wind and biofuels--by 2025. The "25x'25" vision is widely endorsed, bold, and fully attainable. If implemented, it would dramatically improve our energy security, our economy, and our ability to protect the environment.
"I am pleased that more than 20 of my colleagues in the Senate, from both sides of the aisle, are cosponsoring this resolution.
In addition, the "25x'25" vision has been endorsed by 22 current and former governors and several State legislatures across the country. The Big Three automobile manufacturers--Ford, Chrysler, and General Motors--are all behind "25x'25" So are many agricultural organizations, environmental groups, scientists, and businesses, ranging from the Natural Resources Defense Council to John Deere.
"These Americans understand that we cannot continue to import 60% of our oil from foreign countries, many of which are hostile to the US, if we aim to be strong and secure in the world. They know that we will have to build a clean energy economy if we are to reduce our dependence on foreign oil. It is time for Congress to take a more active role in our clean energy future. Establishing a national goal--"25x'25" is the first step."
Source: 25x'25 Act (S.CON.RES.3 / H.CON.RES.25) 2007-SC03 on Jan 17, 2007
