Weekly Political Roundup – The Future is Now
Posted April 30, 2010 at 11:09 am 
Filed in: Political observers may not be able to look ahead even a few weeks to gauge whether energy legislation stands a chance of being enacted this year, but you know the future is now when underwater robots are helping with the Gulf oil spill and a FedEx electric delivery truck made its way to DC this week.
And, speaking of new and different, how about the New York Times’ editorial (http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/29/opinion/29thurs3.html) urging against overreaction to the Gulf explosion by drilling opponents:
“Federal and oil industry officials are using every tool they have — including underwater robots and controlled burns on the water’s surface — to stanch the flow of oil from last week’s explosion of a drilling rig 50 miles offshore in the Gulf of Mexico. Every hour that passes without success brings Louisiana’s fragile wetlands and estuaries, and the marine life that depends on them, closer to environmental disaster.
“The spill — by far the largest in the history of oil and gas drilling in the gulf — has emboldened opponents of President Obama’s recent decision to open parts of the Atlantic Coast and eastern gulf to oil and gas exploration. It has raised new obstacles to a yet-to-be-introduced Senate energy and climate bill that is expected to include proposals for more offshore drilling.
“The accident certainly provides further evidence of the risks of offshore drilling and is another reason why the country needs to choose where it drills carefully. It also strengthens the case for developing cleaner power sources — the main reason for Interior Secretary Ken Salazar’s welcome decision, announced Wednesday, to approve a wind farm off the Massachusetts coast.
“As nerve-racking and potentially destructive as this spill is, it is not sufficient cause to abandon a broader energy strategy that includes the search for conventional fuels. Some perspective is useful.
“The Gulf of Mexico accounts for one-third of America’s domestic oil production and one-fourth of its natural gas. There are 90 exploratory rigs working there and about 3,500 oil-producing platforms. Despite all of that activity, the federal Minerals Management Service says there have been no major spills — defined as 1,000 barrels or more — in the last 15 years, a period that includes Hurricane Katrina. In that context, the blowout — while tragic and destructive — can be seen as a freak occurrence.
“Industry’s obligation — and the Obama administration’s — is to make sure that this remains an isolated episode.”
“If oil drilling is to be part of this country’s immediate energy future, it must be done responsibly.”
In other news, it may not seem like news when FedEx’s Fred Smith testifies on the Hill, but this time the rock star CEO brought one of his all-new electric trucks. The Memphis Commercial-Appeal (http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2010/apr/28/fedex-boss-fred-smith-tells-house-members-all-elec/) has more:
“FedEx CEO Frederick W. Smith came to Capitol Hill with an all-electric FedEx truck on Wednesday and told a House energy and commerce subcommittee that electric, grid-enabled vehicles could help wean the U.S. from imported oil.
“Smith was part of a panel on ‘Clean Energy Policies that Reduce Our Dependence on Foreign Oil’ and reprised his oft-stated concern about the national security and other implications of that dependence.
“‘Our problem is that the oil market is not a free market,’ Smith said in an answer to a question by subcommittee chairman Ed Markey, D-Mass. ‘It is managed by OPEC in a manner that, if it were done in the U.S., would be illegal, with supplies withheld and the attempt to set the market price.’
“In his 11-page written statement, Smith referred to a 2009 RAND Corporation study that placed the cost of defending the U.S. foreign oil supply routes at between $67.5 billion and $83 billion each year.”
“Of FedEx’s 70,000-vehicle fleet, 19 are all-electric and 300 are hybrids, he said. The all-electric vehicles aren’t currently cost-effective, but as the cost of lithium batteries decreases, they could be within five years, he said.
“In his written testimony, Smith asked the subcommittee to consider the plan from the Electrification Coalition to make a maximum $120 billion investment, mainly through tax credits, to get 7 million grid-enabled vehicles on the road by 2018. It would not just reduce dependence on foreign oil but would also create jobs and improve the trade deficit, he wrote.”
And in probably the biggest news of the week, Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) walked away, at least for the time being, from the bipartisan climate legislation he has been working on with Senators John Kerry (D-MA) and Joseph Lieberman (I-CT), because—according to Graham—because Senator Majority Harry Reid said the Senate would tackle immigration before energy. Over the course of the week, Graham has stated that he does think there is still a chance for climate to move forward this year, and Kerry and Lieberman have kept the momentum going by sending their draft to the EPA for analysis.
As Senator Reid has pointed out, the climate and energy bills are further along in the process than immigration; there is no immigration bill, even in draft form, yet. Reid stated during an immigration press conference this week that “There’s probably nobody in the House or the Senate who believes more in doing something about our environment, which is under attack. We need to do comprehensive energy legislation as soon as we can.”
Comprehensive energy legislation does need to be done as soon as possible. As we head into the summer driving season and as gas prices continue their move upward, the future that has been talked about is almost here … now. KGL may or may not be dead but the discussion should not be allowed to hinge on one piece of legislation. Our country’s energy and economic security are important issues that cannot continue to languish due to partisan politics. The future is now, but if we don’t address our critical energy issues it may become far more uncertain.
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