I want to do something risky here in this column. I want to propose a solution to the nation’s energy crisis. Clearly, any solution must be “reliable, affordable, and environmentally sound for America’s future,” wouldn’t you agree? 

            Americans now face “the most serious energy shortages since the oil embargoes of the 1970s. Many families face energy bills two to three times higher…” than as little as five years ago. During the summers, in some parts of the country, “millions of Americans [experienced] rolling blackouts or brownouts.” And of course, as you and I know all too well, “drivers across America are paying higher and higher gasoline prices.”

            It’s not a pretty picture.

            In 2001, we were warned that there existed a “fundamental imbalance between supply and demand [that] defines our nation’s energy crisis. If energy production increases at the same rate as during the last decade our projected energy needs will far outstrip expected levels of production.”

            This is in fact what we are seeing now, at the gas pump and every month when we pay our utility bills. While there are no short-term solutions to a problem that has plagued America since the days of Richard Nixon and Jimmy Carter, the following proposals would go a long way to ensure increasing supply while reducing demand:

• “Responsibly crafted Corporate Average Fuel Economy standards should increase efficiency without negatively impacting the U.S. automotive industry. The determination of future fuel economy standards must therefore be addressed analytically and based on sound science...and include considerations of passenger safety, economic concerns, and disparate impact on the U.S. versus foreign fleet of automobiles.
• The use [of] technological advances to better protect our environment.”
• The development and implementation of “a strategy to increase public awareness of the sizable savings that energy efficiency offers to homeowners across the country. Typical homeowners can save about 30 percent (about $400) a year on their home energy bill by using Energy Star labeled products.
• Promot[ing] enhanced oil and gas recovery from existing wells through new technology.
• Improv[ing] oil and gas exploration technology through continued partnership with public and private entities.
• Consider[ing] economic incentives for environmentally sound offshore oil and gas development where warranted by specific circumstances.
• Additional environmentally responsible oil and gas development, based on sound science and the best available technology, through further lease sales in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska. Such consideration should include areas not currently leased within the Northeast corner of the Reserve.
• Congress must authorize exploration and, if resources are discovered, development of the 1002 Area of ANWR. Congress should require the use of the best available technology and should require that activities will result in no significant adverse impact to the surrounding environment.
• Continue to develop advanced clean coal technology by investing…to fund research in clean coal technologies, supporting a permanent extension of the existing research and development tax credit and encourage advancements in environmental technology.
• Expand[ing] nuclear energy generation in the United States.
• Increas[ing] renewable energy production, such as biomass, wind, geothermal, and solar.
• Develop[ing] next-generation technology—including hydrogen and fusion.”

             These are all great ideas and if implemented holistically, would do much to solve the energy supply and demand imbalance we now face. But I can’t take credit for any of them. They are just some of the proposals that have been on the table since President Bush commissioned a panel called the National Energy Policy Proposal Group to assess the strengths, weaknesses and the direction for America’s future with regards to energy consumption. Their findings were published in a report entitled, “Reliable Affordable and Environmentally Sound Energy for America’s Future.” The quoted portions of text were taken directly from the document itself which has been available online at www.WhiteHouse.gov/energy  since May 2001.

            I wonder if anyone bothered to read it.

            More importantly, I wonder if anyone is doing anything about it—or are they all too busy criticizing this president for a problem that dates back over three decades spanning seven presidencies. n