Conservation, renewable energy should be pursued
Source: The Kansas City Star via Yellowbrix 2001-11-11

Members of Congress are tugging in two sharply
different directions on a proposed new energy policy
for America. Democrats have generally taken the
best approach by emphasizing research into
renewable energies and calling for dramatic
improvements in conservation.

Energy policy has taken on renewed importance in
the wake of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the
United States. Many Americans would like to see
the country become less dependent on foreign
energy sources that could be disrupted by
terrorism, war or political turmoil abroad.

One core requirement in the new energy policy
should be for automakers to build more fuel-efficient
vehicles. Motorists would buy less fuel, saving
billions of dollars each year. Our nation's
dependence on foreign oil could be reduced. And
there would be less air pollution because gasoline
would be burned more efficiently.

Congress should not perpetuate the status quo, in
which overall fuel efficiency actually has been
declining.

Unfortunately, most Republicans lawmakers have
been supporting old- fashioned, wasteful proposals
for the new energy policy. They seem uninterested
in legislation that calls for cars and trucks to guzzle
less gasoline.

Instead, the GOP's plans include drilling for
petroleum in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and
subsidies that would promote the construction of
new nuclear power plants and fossil-fueled power
plants.

However, drilling in the arctic refuge would have
heavy environmental costs.

New nuclear reactors should not be built until a
longterm storage facility is available for high-level
nuclear waste. In addition, new security concerns
about nuclear plants may substantially increase
their costs.

And new taxpayer subsidies for the coal, natural
gas and oil industries largely would be unnecessary
expenses.

The Democrats have offered a better-reasoned
program that would support more conservation and
renewable energies.

The wind, geothermal and solar power that could be
produced within the United States could not be
turned off at the whim of a foreign government. If
Congress increases the amount of research dollars
spent on renewable energy, as it should, that
energy would eventually become cheaper to
produce and buy.

Congress also needs to do more to promote energy
conservation even beyond requiring more
fuel-efficient vehicles.

The federal government should continue rules and
penalties that discourage the use of "dirty" coal,
which produces excessive amounts of air pollution
when it is burned.

Coal will continue to be a major source of energy for
this country no matter which energy plan Congress
approves, but utilities should be strongly
encouraged to use it more cleanly and efficiently.

The federal government also should require more
efficient appliances so that it will take less energy
to wash a load of clothes, cook a meal or keep a
refrigerator cold. Incremental improvements in the
efficiency of millions of appliances sold every year
could add up to major energy savings.

Still, Americans will not be able to rely solely on
conservation and renewable energies to ensure that
they have stable supplies of power in the coming
decades. Some new electricity plants will need to
be built to meet increasing demands, especially on
the coasts.

Democrats have to concede this fact. Republicans,
in turn, should recognize the fundamental
importance of more effective conservation measures
and greater government support for renewable
energy.