Obama and Romney's energy policies

Just in terms of energy policy alone, we are on the verge of one of the most important presidential elections in our lifetime. The decisions that will be made during this next presidential term will not only impact the way we produce and use energy but what kind of a planet we will leave for future gener-ations. This article will briefly summarize the Sierra Club’s Energy Resources Policy. It can be found by searching at www.SierraClub.org. This policy will be contrasted with President Obama’s energy policy: “Blueprint for a Secure Energy Future” which can be found at www.whitehouse.gov as well as Mitt Romney’s Energy Policy which can be found at www.mittromney.com.   

The consensus of the scientific community is that the burning of fossil fuels is increasing CO2 and other greenhouse gas emissions to levels that will substantially change our climate, thereby threatening human health and harming natural ecosystems. To combat this problem the Sierra Club has proposed an energy policy that centers on promoting “a positive vision of a sustainable energy future.” The goal of this policy is to help wean us off fossil fuels by accelerating the development and market growth of sustainable low carbon energy resources; phase out environmentally damaging fossil fuels such as coal, tar sands oil and nuclear technologies; and maximize energy efficiency in our transportation, work place and home. The Sierra Club says that meeting these goals would be an engine for new economic growth, save money, generate jobs and develop more livable communities. This would create a better way to live on our planet by placing less pressure on the natural systems that help sustain us.

The president's energy plan

President Obama states in his energy policy that “we can’t keep going from shock to trance on the issue of energy security, rushing to propose action when gas prices rise, then hitting the snooze button when they fall again.” He goes on to say that “we cannot afford to bet our long-term prosperity and security on a resource that will eventually run out.” But he says as we develop the next generation energy technologies, we will have to continue to rely on oil and gas. So he proposes “to make us more secure through controlling our energy future by harnessing all of the resources that we have available and embracing a diverse energy portfolio.” He says “we must also focus on expanding cleaner sources of electricity, including renewables like wind and solar as well as clean coal, natural gas and nuclear power.” According to the Department of Energy since President Obama took office, net oil imports have fallen from 57% to 45% of overall consumption, the lowest level in 16 years. In 2011, U.S crude oil production reached its highest level since 2003 with a record number of oil and gas rigs operating which is more than the rest of the world combined. Since 2009 the U.S. has been the world’s leading producer of natural gas.

One of the best ways to help reduce the use of fossil fuels is to become more energy efficient. To this end, Obama has mandated an increase in the average fuel efficiency for passenger vehicles to 35.5 miles per gallon by 2016 and has proposed a 54.5 miles per gallon standard by 2025. The first ever fuel economy standards for heavy duty trucks, vans and buses have been put into effect for model years 2014-2018. He has made the needed government investments in battery technology and infrastructure to support the manu-facture of one million plug-in hybrid and electric vehicles by 2015.  One of the most efficient means of saving transportation energy is the use of train travel. The President has established a goal to give 80% of Americans access to high-speed rail within 25 years. Through the Energy Star program new efficiency standards for more than 30 products have been put into place and expect to save consumers more than $300 billion through 2030.  

So how does the Sierra Club’s Energy Policy compare with Obama’s? Overall the president is fairly close to the Sierra Club’s position on the need to move towards more sustainable energy choices. The Sierra Club is  demanding a higher standard for green energy than the president, but he has many more constituencies to deal with. For the moment, he keeps natural gas, “clean coal” and nuclear energy in his portfolio of transitional energies on the way to greener choices. The Sierra Club’s plan points out that at least at this point there is no such thing as “clean coal.” His emphasis on improving energy efficiency is very much in line with the Sierra Club position.

Mitt Romney's energy plan

Compared to the Sierra Club, Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney has a very different energy policy. He sees energy production as primarily a national security and job creation issue. He wants to streamline approval processes for extracting energy and says “all permits and approvals for exploration and development should be issued according to fixed timelines with the availability of fast-tract processes.”
  
He says “the Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act and other environmental laws need to be overhauled.” He says “the Clean Air Act was passed to protect against pollutants that pose dangers to human health and was not intended to control CO2 emissions, and is poorly tailored to that purpose.” He says President Obama is trying “to fit that particular square peg into the round hole of the Clean Air Act to essentially achieve the effect of cap-and-trade without congressional approval.” The Supreme Court disagrees with that as it ruled in 2007 that part of the mandate of the Clean Air Act allows the EPA to regulate CO2.  

Romney wants to increase our domestic supply of oil which would put downward pressure on energy prices. But according to the Energy Information Administration, the supply of oil and gasoline is higher today than it was three years ago, when the national average price for a gallon of gasoline was just $1.90. Meanwhile, due in part a slower economy and more efficient cars the demand for oil in the U.S. is at its lowest level since April 1997. Besides that the president of the United States doesn’t set the price of oil and gasoline, the global market does. Rumors of war in the Middle East, increased use of oil by China and other factors including speculators are pushing up oil prices.  

Romney is for quick approval of the Keystone XL Pipeline which would bring tar sands oil from Canada through the Midwest to the gulf coast. He says that Obama has “an unhealthy green jobs obsession” and is “in thrall with the environmentalist lobby and its dogmas.” He asserts that the president has waged war against oil and coal while touting the creation of green jobs and says that “wind and solar remain sharply uncompetitive on their own with conventional resources such as oil and natural gas in most applications.” He says “we have wasted time and money by steering investment towards particular politically favored approaches.” Recently, Mr. Romney has come out in favor of Rep. Paul Ryan’s new Republican budget proposal eliminating federal subsidies and tax breaks for alternative energy firms and would slash funding for energy research.  
 
Romney says “the United States is blessed with a cornucopia of carbon-based energy resources and developing them has been a pathway to prosperity for the nation in the past and offers similar promise for the future.” He says “he will permit drilling wherever it can be done safely including the Gulf of Mexico, both the Atlantic and Pacific Outer Continental Shelves, Western lands, the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and off the Alaska coast.” This will include both conventional reserves and shale oil deposits. There is no indication on his website as to a position on any demand side measures to increase energy efficiency.  There is no mention on his web site of climate change but in October 2011 during a forum in Pennsylvania he expressed the view that “we don’t know what’s causing climate change and the idea of spending trillions and trillions of dollars to try and reduce CO2 emissions is not the right course for us” (www.lunberg.com).               

Summary of stances                

Sierra Club:  Develop a positive vision of a sustainable energy future by accelerating the development of sustainable low carbon energy as environmentally damaging fossil fuels are reduced and energy efficiency is increased.    

President Obama: Control our energy future in the short term by an all-of-the-above energy strategy to reduce our dependence on foreign oil as we position the U.S. as the global leader in clean energy and energy efficiency.      

Mitt Romney: Deregulate and drill.  

Michael Stevenson is program chair for the Angeles Chapter's San Fernando Valley Sierra Club Group. This article appeared in the June issue of Vall-E-Vents newsletter.   

Photo: Coal plant Credit: Alice McKeown