John P. Heimlich is the current chair of the board of directors for Consumer Energy Alliance. He is also the Vice President and Chief Economist at Airlines for America. We caught up with Heimlich to get his take on the current state of play.

The Energy Voice: Thinking about the cost of energy and doing business, what is keeping companies up at night?

Heimlich: There is a lot of innovation happening, which is good. But, at the same time there is a lot of uncertainty with respect to new regulations and revisions to tax policy. Energy producers and consumers need to make their case or else government will make it for them.

The Energy Voice: What will be President Obama’s energy legacy?

Heimlich: If he is to succeed, he will have to be the president that was able to build a consensus behind an “all of the above” energy plan. He can also clarify the link between our rapidly growing energy base and the potential to create jobs by exporting resources. Finally, his administration could break the fiscal log-jam by tapping the huge revenue opportunity that will result from expanding access to federal lands.

The Energy Voice: What are the top three energy challenges before Congress?

Heimlich: Promoting new energy investment; brokering access to federal lands for energy exploration and keeping the U.S. on pace, in an environmentally responsible manner, to overtake Saudi Arabia as the world’s leading producer of oil.

The Energy Voice: What are some of the efforts airlines have taken on the conservation front?

Heimlich: Investing billions in replacing aircraft with more fuel-efficient models, installing new engines, airframes, winglets, fan blades and other design features that improve fuel efficiency. Airlines also optimize operations in the air and on the ground to save fuel costs and minimize emissions by using “continuous descent approaches” and “required navigation performance” procedures, plus implementing satellite tracking technology, single-engine taxiing and electric gate power. Notably, U.S. airlines have improved their fuel efficiency by more than 120 percent since 1978, the year in which domestic air service was deregulated.

The Energy Voice: Thinking about energy consumption. What topic have we not covered?

Heimlich: We have a tremendous opportunity in the United States to upgrade to a 21st century air traffic control system. If done correctly, this could be a huge benefit for the traveling public as well as the energy consumer.

Royal Dutch Shell CEO Peter Voser was singing CEA’s tune in a speech given in Boston on Thursday when he called for the United States to make investments in a broad array of new energy sources, using our four favorite term to describe energy policy: “All of the above.”

Boston Globe:

“Our energy consumption is on a scale so massive and demand is growing so quickly that we will need to aggressively pursue all sources of energy for decades to come just to keep up,” said Voser, whose company has 20,000 US employees. “When your President Obama says America’s energy policy should be all of the above he is absolutely right, in our opinion.”

Voser said Natural Gas is a “backbone fuel” in making his case.

“The world needs to follow America’s lead and take full advantage of the cleanest-burning fossil fuel, and that’s natural gas..increased use of natural gas is the biggest single step that the world can take today to begin reducing” carbon dioxide emissions, which contribute to global warming and climate change….Gas is the natural ally of renewables like wind and solar,…Wind and solar are intermittent energy sources [but] natural gas can keep the electricity flowing when the sun doesn’t shine and the wind fails to blow. Unlike many other energy sources, gas can be switched off and on quickly, and its global supply is increasingly diverse, which enhances energy security.”

Testifying before a U.S. House committee reviewing the impact of offshore energy exploration, an executive from Gulf of Mexico based Crosby Tuggs outlined the economic impact:

Cory Kief, Director of Business Development for Crosby Tuggs, which owns and operates 143 tug boats, discussed how the company “employ[s] 673 people consisting of mariners, office staff, support crews, mechanics, welders, sand blasters, painters and roustabouts.” Kief explained the downstream job creation effect of offshore energy production, “As with any industrial company, we buy numerous supplies and services from around the country to support our activities. Similarly, while these rigs are working, they require other services to support their task such as supply vessels, aircraft, and a variety of human resources. The machinery, equipment, parts and materials associated with all these operations come from all over the country, as well as the people.”

The Congressional Research service issued a report finding that oil and gas production fell on Federal lands despite increases in production overall due to increased development on private lands.  The report found that all increases in oil production since 2007 have occurred on non-federal lands.

From POLITICO:

And new data from the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service appear to partially support their claims since it shows most of the output increases occurred on private land outside government control, although Republican talking points paint over some subtleties. Total U.S. oil production has increased by about 1.1 million barrels per day from fiscal year 2007 levels, even as output on federal land dropped 7 percent.

 But oil production from federal land did rise from 2007 through 2010 before falling off, and onshore production from federal properties rose by a modest 44,000 barrels a day over the full period, indicating the drop could be attributed to the 2010 pause in new drilling in the Gulf of Mexico after BP’s Macondo disaster.

Obama critics note that the 20 percent jump in U.S. gas output since 2007 comes largely from a 40 percent jump on private land, since production on federal properties fell by 33 percent during that period.

And industry proponents are quick to blame the Obama administration for a slower permitting process. According to CRS, as of 2011 it took an average of 89 more days during the Obama administration than the Bush administration to process and receive approval for drilling applications.

But the Interior Department actually processes the applications more quickly now than the Bush administration did by an average of 56 days. The holdup comes from the amount of time it takes the industry to submit and complete an application — which is 145 days longer under Obama. That’s likely a result of sweeping new regulations put in place in the aftermath of the 2010 oil spill.

A copy of the CRS Report can be viewed here.

Writing at Time Magazine's Swamp Land Blog, foreign policy expert Fareed Zakaria makes his argument for why the U.S. should sign off on building the Keystone XL pipeline.  

One way to think about the keystone project–the 2,000-mile (3,220 km) pipeline that would bring oil from the tar sands of Canada to the Gulf of Mexico–is to ask what would happen if it is never built. The U.S. Department of State released an extremely thorough report that tries to answer this question. It concludes, basically, that the oil derived from Canadian tar sands will be developed at about the same pace whether or not there is a pipeline to the U.S. In other words, stopping Keystone might make us feel good, but it wouldn’t really do anything about climate change.

REI CEO reaffirmed President Obama’s support for an “all-of-the-above” energy strategy during her prepared opening remarks to the U.S. Senate Energy & Natural Resources Committee:

On energy: I believe that with the help of rapidly advancing technologies, smart policies, and a commitment to an all-of-the-above strategy, we can continue to expand and diversify our energy production, cut our reliance on foreign oil, and protect our land and water.

Innovative technologies and new frontiers both onshore and offshore are increasing our nation’s domestic oil and gas production, and we owe it to the American people to make sure that development takes place in a safe and responsible way. We also need to provide industry with certainty and clarity when it comes to development, so that they can make smart investments to help power our economy.

I know that the President has set a goal to double renewable electricity generation again by the year 2020. Interior has a critical role to play in fulfilling the President’s vision through encouraging renewable energy on our nation’s public lands. As part of the President’s energy team, I will work to make sure that we’re doing that in the right way and in the right places.