Weekly Political Roundup – Rubber and Roads?
Posted May 15, 2009 at 11:14 am 
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“We cannot afford to develop sudden amnesia about what happened only a year ago. Indeed, we may not have to worry. Oil prices are up by 70 percent since February. Can we continue tempting fate?”
Fredrick W. Smith, Chairman, President and CEO of FedEx Corporation
Co-Chairman of the Energy Security Leadership Council (ESLC)
Before the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations
May 12, 2009
Mr. Smith and General Charles F. Wald, USAF (Ret.), former Deputy Commander of the U.S. European Command and ESLC Member, testified immediately following former President Jimmy Carter before the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations on Tuesday. The topic of the hearing was “Energy Security: Historical Perspectives and Modern Challenges”. Both Smith and Wald spoke about the threat posed by our nation’s dependence on oil, and the need for a comprehensive solution—particularly the electrification of short-haul ground transportation in the long term and increased domestic production of oil and natural gas in the interim—to that threat.
“We have built a transportation system that is nearly 100 percent reliant on a fuel that we are forced to import and whose highly volatile price is subject to geopolitical events far beyond our control,” General Wald said. He added, “[s]ome may be surprised to hear a former general talk about electric cars, but they shouldn’t be. In the military, you learn that force protection isn’t just about protecting weak spots; it’s about reducing vulnerabilities before you get into harm’s way. That’s why reducing America’s oil dependence is so important. If we can lessen the oil intensity of our economy, making each dollar of GDP less dependent on petroleum, we would be less vulnerable if and when our enemies do manage to successfully attack elements of the global oil infrastructure. The best ways to reduce oil intensity are to bring to bear a diversity of fuels in the transportation sector, and this is best achieved by the electrification of transportation.”
And while President Carter reminded the Committee that he called for many of the reforms to achieve energy security now being debated in Congress, the fact remains that in many ways, our nation is no better off than we were 30 years ago when it comes to energy security.
Continuing to move are the dual tracks being pursued on energy and climate legislation in the Senate and the House. On the Senate side, the Energy and Natural Resources (ENR) Committee finished the transmission title of their energy bill. While a step in the right direction, as was pointed out in yesterday’s post, the Corker cost allocation amendment creates serious questions about whether FERC will indeed be able to move forward with the siting of new transmission lines any time in the foreseeable future. Without the much-needed upgrades to the nation’s transmission system, the move to transform our transportation system from one dependent on oil to one that uses electricity will be problematic at best.
Remaining topics for the Committee to address include supply provisions and—hopefully–provisions helping move towards the electrification of short-haul transportation. This week, Senators Dorgan and Bayh were working through language each has authored on electrification with the hope that their combined language will be the basis for an electrification title of the energy bill. Without this key piece of the puzzle, our energy security policy will not be complete.
Across the Capitol, Chairman Waxman announced a deal on his climate change legislation although as of this writing, text had yet to be seen. However, Representative Joe Barton, the ranking Republican on the House Energy and Commerce Committee stated flatly that “cap and trade is dead” and that a “coroner” was needed to “conduct the autopsy and make it official.” (E&E ClimateWire May 14, 2009). Since the House is viewing the climate bill as its energy bill, and probably the only major energy legislation to pass the House this year, it is imperative that the bill address the pressing needs of our country’s energy security.
Looking forward, the Senate ENR Committee is expected to tackle several of the remaining pieces of energy legislation–including nuclear waste management, cybersecurity and even a renewable energy standard or RES—next week. Chairman Bingaman said yesterday that a “general agreement” was in place on RES and that he expected the bill to be marked up Thursday, May 21. Once perceived as a “bill killer,” it is promising to hear this news. However, as Senator Murkowski said on Wednesday, “this is where the rubber hits the road” and while she said this only in relation to the Corker cost allocation amendment, the week leading into the Memorial Day Recess is going to have plenty of rubber hitting the road moments. We can only hope that the two committees move our country down the right road towards energy security.
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