Whitehouse: America Must Lead the World in Energy Innovation

Whitehouse: America Must Lead the World in Energy Innovation
On Anniversary of Energy Bill Giveaway, Senate Candidate Unveils New Plan Setting 2020 Deadline for Energy Independence

One year after George Bush signed energy legislation that handed over billions to oil and gas companies but did nothing to end our dependence on foreign oil, Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Sheldon Whitehouse unveiled a major new plan aiming to make America the world's leader in energy innovation and achieve energy independence by 2020.

"We're in an energy crisis, and we have no choice but to innovate our way out of it," Whitehouse said. "If we make this a real national priority, we can own and control our own energy supply - strengthening our national security, creating jobs, protecting our economy from oil shocks, and cleaning up our environment for our kids and grandkids. But to do it, we obviously need a new direction in Washington on energy issues - because this isn't just an energy crisis, it's a leadership crisis."

Americans burn through more than 20 million barrels of oil each day, with consumption expected to rise over 20 percent by 2020. Over 65 percent of our oil supply comes from outside the United States, much of it from unfriendly or unstable nations like Saudi Arabia, Nigeria, and Venezuela. This May alone, the United States paid a record $27.88 billion for oil imports, including a record $13.6 billion from members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).

Sheldon Whitehouse's Energy Independence Through American Innovation plan sets out a four-point strategy for a new national commitment to energy efficiency, renewable fuels, and consumer protection:

1. New Federal Public-Private Partnership to Support Emerging Energy Technologies: Direct and focused involvement by the federal government to coordinate research and development and help move new products and materials to the market quickly will help America meet the challenge of energy independence. Sheldon Whitehouse will push for the creation of a new federal board that would work hand-in-hand with private industry to invest in promising new technologies and support scientific and technological advancements.
2. Conserving Energy at Home and on the Road: By taking just a few ambitious steps to improve the efficiency of the cars we drive and the buildings we live and work in, we could virtually eliminate our consumption of Middle Eastern oil. Sheldon Whitehouse supports raising Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards to an average of 40 mpg (up from 27.5 mpg for cars and 21.6 mpg for SUVs, light trucks, and minivans) and expanding tax incentives to purchase hybrid vehicles and energy-efficient construction and appliances. All together, this could save Americans as much oil as we are now projected to import from the Persian Gulf in 2020.
3. Major Federal Investment in Renewable and Alternative Fuels: Sheldon Whitehouse believes our federal government should support both increased production of renewable and alternative fuels, and incentives to speed wide-scale adoption by consumers. Whitehouse supports major new federal investments in development, production, and commercialization of new cellulosic biofuels made from sugar, wood waste, and switchgrass, and believes we should lead the private sector to expand production of flex-fuel vehicles (FFVs) and install biofuel pumps at local gas stations to make these alternate fuels readily available. To revolutionize our use of renewable energy in our homes and offices, Whitehouse will work for a national renewable portfolio standard requiring that 20 percent of our domestic electricity production come from renewable sources, like wind and solar power, by 2020.
4. Protecting Consumers from Oil Industry Price-Gouging: As a former Attorney General and U.S. Attorney, Sheldon Whitehouse is an experienced consumer advocate with a record of standing up to big oil companies to fight for Rhode Islanders. To prevent energy companies from taking advantage of consumers, Whitehouse has called for a full-scale investigation into price gouging at the pump, rolling back unneeded royalty relief and tax breaks for oil companies written into last year's energy bill, and a windfall profits tax on big oil.

The energy bill enacted last year provided billions in royalty relief and tax breaks for the oil and gas industries - giveaways company CEOs later told Congress they didn't need. President Bush has even gone on record saying that at over $50 per barrel, oil companies don't need incentives to produce. The five largest oil companies reported a record $110 billion in profits in 2005, with BP's $7.27 billion second-quarter profits roughly equivalent to more than $55,000 a minute.

Meanwhile, in the year since the energy bill passed, gas prices have soared to more than $3.00 a gallon, but energy consumption remains at a record high. At the same time, the Bush administration's budget has failed live up to its energy independence rhetoric by shortchanging research, renewables, and conservation.

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