Nick Smith, November 16, 2003

As a member of Nixon's Presidential Oil Policy Commission during the Arab oil embargo, I have long felt we can and should do more to ensure domestic supplies of energy. After more than two years of negotiation, the House and Senate are poised to finally pass a much-needed energy bill to reduce our dependence on foreign petroleum. The legislation will also help make transmission networks more reliable to prevent a recurrence of the type of blackout that paralyzed much of the country in August. It is expected to pass before Thanksgiving.

Over the long term, the United States must move away from its heavy reliance on petroleum for energy. As long as we consume 25% of the world's oil while possessing only 3% of the world's proven reserves, it will be nearly impossible to eliminate our dependence. American reserves will not increase because this bill will not permit the development of our most promising new source of oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge because of fierce opposition. With opposition to most offshore drilling as well, U.S. production will continue to fall. Hostility to domestic exploration has been a major factor in production falling from 12 million barrels a day in 1970 to 8 million barrels now.

Conservation can help reduce petroleum consumption to some degree, but it cannot eliminate the critical need for new energy sources. Since 1970, our GDP has risen 147% while energy consumption is up by only 42%. The energy bill will help us to do even better with a focus on more efficient appliances, electricity generation, and increased automotive efficiency. But as long as the economy continues to grow, conservation will only reduce the rate of growth in petroleum consumption. It is very unlikely that it will lead to any actual reduction in total consumption. As a result, the only real solution to our dependence on foreign energy lies in shifting consumption patterns away from oil and toward other energy sources.

Where this bill shines is in its support for alternative fuels such as clean coal, ethanol, biofuels, and renewable energies to make a shift away from petroleum possible. There are many talented people working on solutions, attracted not just by tax breaks and subsidies, but also by the huge profits in store for an inventor who can provide a practical solution to our energy problems. For example, Congressman Roscoe Bartlett and I recently met with a Russian physicist and inventor who has invented an engine that uses coal dust for fuel. It is more than 80% efficient and has almost no polluting exhaust. These engines could allow us to make better use of our domestic coal resources.

The energy bill conference report is 1,700 pages long and I haven't yet had the chance to read much more than the summaries. It also contains at least $20 billion in tax credits for energy development and production. This is about twice as much as was in the House-passed bill. We will have to look closely at these tax breaks and look for special interest provisions throughout the bill.

I intend to support the bill if it is along the lines of what passed the House. We need to reduce our reliance on the hostile and politically unstable Middle East for fuel. Achieving energy self sufficiency would improve our country's security for decades to come. This national energy policy shows us a way out of our dependence.

Congressman Nick Smith, a Republican, represents Michigan's 7th Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives.