Obama's Energy Plan Could Face Uphill Battle
Jan 21, 2009 -- Voice of America News/ContentWorks
In his inaugural address, President Obama highlighted energy as one of the
major challenges facing the nation. "Each day brings further evidence that
the ways we use energy strengthen our adversaries and threaten our planet,"
he said. The president went on to mention briefly what his goal will be when
it comes to energy. "We will harness the sun and the winds and the soil to
fuel our cars and our factories," he said. More details are provided on the
new White House web site, which outlines the Obama administration's policies
on a wide range of issues.
A Clean Energy Future
Among the energy proposals listed are: creating five million new jobs by
investing $150 billion over the next 10 years to promote a clean energy
future; reducing imports of oil through conservation and promotion of hybrid
electric cars; implementation of a "cap-and-trade" program to reduce
greenhouse gas emissions 80 percent by 2050. Many of the ideas listed are
not new and quite a few people in the traditional energy industry question
the viability of developing renewable energies to replace oil, coal and
natural gas. They note that such sources of energy as solar and wind account
for only a small percentage of overall energy use in the United States and
that heavy machinery and large trucks cannot be run on electrical power from
solar panels and wind turbines.
A First Step, But Questions Abound
Still, energy analyst Ken Medlock at Rice University's Baker Institute for
Public Policy, said President Obama has made a major step forward in
addressing the energy problem by simply having a plan. "Having a plan is the
first major step toward having something real occur. We have not had a real
plan, ever, really. This is exciting, from that standpoint, in that we seem
to have a goal and we seem to have a plan to execute that goal," he said.
Medlock is critical of some aspects of the Obama plan, for example, he says
the call for one million plug-in electric hybrid cars by the year 2015 would
do little, given the fact that there are some 300 million vehicles on U.S.
roads. He said he would also like to see a tax on gasoline that would help
curb demand and provide funds for energy research.
The Right Moment for Change
Now that oil prices have fallen below $40 a barrel is the perfect time to
implement such a plan, in Medlock's view. He said the administration could
sell it on the basis of its overall benefits to the economy. "We import a
lot of our oil and if we could curb consumption, we could actually
dramatically reduce those imports and that would affect our balance of
trade, which would positively influence the value of the dollar, which would
do all sorts of things in terms of what we could afford to buy in terms of
imported goods," he said. Medlock also questioned the administration's goal
of creating a "cap-and-trade" program, whereby a company that is producing
greenhouse gases can buy offset credits from another company that has
reduced such emissions. Such a scheme would favor companies that pollute
little and put a big economic burden on those that rely on fossil fuels like
coal to fire furnaces or generators.
A Rough Road Ahead
Medlock said even some members of Obama's own Democratic Party would fight
that idea. "If you have a Democratic senator or representative from a
coal-producing state or a major coal-consuming state, it is going to be a
tough sell to that individual to do something that could potentially
disadvantage the economy of that state. So I do not think we will see action
quickly on that front. I think it will come, but it is probably a one,or
two-year sort of issue," he said. But the Obama administration is only a
matter of hours old and still has a long road ahead in terms of forming
specific proposals on energy. Medlock said much will depend on how effective
the new president is in formulating policies that draw widespread support
from Congress and the American people.
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