Energy is an input to all facets of the American economy. From pencils to computers, all products use a component of energy to get made and delivered to customers. That is why a solid energy plan is so critical to the economy of the US. And this is something that has been absent since the Reagan administration. Yes, the White House has an energy policy, but how realistic is it?
One expert says that the world is at least 15 years away from real solar energy. Perhaps sometime next decade, most of the electricity in your house will come directly from the sun. But, do we have a bridge to get to the future? We are not there yet.
True, there are some consequences to burning fossil fuels and to nuclear energy, but they are the most efficient sources of fuel that we have at this time. Solar energy and other green sources of power are still in the "Model-T" stage of development and have a long way to go. One day, Solar power will be cheaper than coal. But we are not there, yet.
Some say that we need tax subsidies and help from government to get solar energy off the ground. I propose that we give solar energy the same level of tax help that we gave coal. Enough said.
Economic forces will drive cleaner energy, like it or not. But we do not get there by making it more difficult to deliver conventional sources of energy. The reason this is so is because of the economic principle of opportunity cost. That is a simple principle to understand. If I did not spend this $1 on x, I would spend it on y.
While Obama and his administration have sacrificed traditional energy for green energy, costs have been on the increase. While many of you believe that business simply passes the higher energy costs to you the consumer, it is not completely true. When prices are raised, the law of supply and demand says that less product will be sold. This is exacerbated because the consumer is also paying for fuel and has less to pay for other things. Companies have to find other ways to absorb costs. Eventually they respond by cutting staff.
You see where I am going with this, do you? We have needed a bridge to the future, not a cliff. Even those of us to advocate the use of more traditional sources or energy...coal, oil and natural gas...know that these sources of energy will not last forever and that we need to improve solar and wind technologies. Until the new energy technologies can supply our needs, we need to take advantage of the resources we now have for cheaper and more reliable sources of energy.
When companies spend less money on energy, they have more to spend on other things, such as payroll. When Mr. and Mrs. America spend less on gas in the tank, they have more to spend on luxuries such as food and clothing.
If allowed to expand, the energy industry has plenty of extra cash to hire hard-working, down-on-their-luck Americans. Don't we need to put good people to work? Thousands of people have lost work just for the Gulf Drilling Moratorium.
Just because we allow oil and coal companies to expand does not mean that we are abandoning green energy, it just means that we are trying to be realistic. Reality is, as we have been reminded since the 70s, the supply of fossil fuels is limited and we, sooner or later, need to find something different.
"Drill Here, Drill Now" is not the only answer to the energy problem. We need more refineries. When a fire at a refinery on the West Coast raises the price of gasoline 30 cents, it shows that improvements and upgrades are needed on every link in the supply chain. This is why the Keystone Pipeline is so important. It makes for more efficient delivery from oil field to refinery. We need new, safer and more efficient refineries, where few new refineries have been built in the past 30 years.
We also need to upgrade our coal-burning plants to make them more efficient and less polluting. We have the technology to do this, but instead our current administration insists on shutting them down.
Most importantly, we must develop domestic sources of energy. When we import 60% of our oil from foreign soil, we send 60% of the dollars that we spend on oil and gas outside of the United States. That weakens the dollar. This has consequences for every American, not just those who travel. A stronger dollar will help keep jobs in the US.
There is no telling how a better energy problem will benefit the United States. It's impact will be greatly felt. It may be the most important thing that the President and Congress can work on in the next four years. If there is one industry in the US that has the cash to invest in more American jobs, it is Big Oil. We should not engage in policies that view big oil companies that the enemy of the American People. We should treat this industry like an ally.
Step 1--Fix the corporate tax structure.
Step 2--Interest rates and lending
Step 3--Energy
Step 4--Legal Reforms
Step 5--Outsourcing
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