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CEA:“Use It or Lose It” Legislation Wrong Approach; Access to Domestic Energy Resources Needed

CEA:“Use It or Lose It” Legislation Wrong Approach; Access to Domestic Energy Resources Needed

WASHINGTON – Following a press conference today by Senators Robert Menendez (D-NJ) and Bill Nelson (D-FL) to announce new “Use It or Lose It” legislation for oil and gas drilling leases, Consumer Energy Alliance (CEA) President David Holt released the following statement:

“Instead of lawmakers focusing on pointless legislation that will not alleviate the skyrocketing gas pump prices for Americans, CEA instead urges the federal government to end the ‘permit freeze’ in the Gulf of Mexico and Alaska and take affirmative steps to encourage the production of our domestic oil supplies. With estimates suggesting that total U.S. oil production will decline by 13 percent in 2011, our leaders need to instead consider the benefits of thoughtfully and safely exploring America’s offshore areas for the sake of our national security and independence from foreign energy sources.”

“It is especially ironic that Senators Menendez and Nelson would introduce ‘Use It or Lose It’ legislation at a time when the energy industry and the American people are begging our political leaders to issue permits to develop our abundant natural resources. According to the latest Gallup poll, fully 60 percent of American consumers want to develop our oil and gas resources now to alleviate the pain they are feeling at the pump. Industry is ready, but our leaders in Washington continue a clear pattern of delay.”

National Poll Confirms Majority of Americans Support Developing Domestic Resources

National Poll Confirms Majority of Americans Support Developing Domestic Resources
Americans Increasingly Concerned about Access to Affordable Energy and Escalating Energy Prices

Washington, DC – Today Consumer Energy Alliance (CEA) praised the latest findings from Gallup’s annual Environment survey, which found that six in 10 Americans favor increasing offshore drilling for oil and gas in U.S. coastal areas, up from 50 percent in May 2010.

“These national poll results clearly demonstrate the growing discontent Americans are voicing across the nation about the pain they are experiencing at the pump and their strong support for the responsible development of the nation’s vast array of abundant domestic resources,” said David Holt, president of CEA. With almost 50 percent of Americans expressing a great deal of concern about the availability and affordability of energy, it’s time for our policymakers in Washington, D.C. to change course by allowing for the development of a robust, balanced domestic energy supply.”

“With gas pump prices headed towards $4.00 a gallon, something must be done immediately to ease the cost of fuel from draining American’s wallets. As Congress begins a week of hearings to examine the high energy prices the nation is facing, CEA calls on the Obama Administration to end the ongoing delays in issuing oil and gas permits and asks that the Administration immediately allow access to domestic energy reserves in the Gulf of Mexico, Alaska, the Southeast and onshore,” Holt added.

The Gallup poll also showed 49% of Americans in favor of opening Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) for oil exploration – the highest level of support Gallup has recorded for drilling in ANWR since the question was first asked in 2002.

“After witnessing the damage to the nation’s economy from the record-breaking fuel prices of 2008, it’s obvious that our economic well-being depends upon our access to affordable energy as does our ability to compete globally, create jobs and ensure robust economic growth. With the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) estimating that the price oil may hit $110 per barrel by the end of the year, it’s time for the federal government to take affirmative steps to encourage the production of our domestic oil supplies,” said CEA Chairman of the Board and vice president & regulatory affairs counsel for the American Trucking Associations Rich Moskowitz.

According to Gallup, this poll was based on telephone interviews conducted March 3-6, 2011, with a random sample of 1,021 adults, aged 18 and older, living in the continental U.S., selected using random-digit-dial sampling.

 

CEA: President Addresses Energy Problem, But More Access to Domestic Energy Resources Needed

CEA: President Addresses Energy Problem, But More Access to Domestic Energy Resources Needed
Alliance Continues to Urge for Expanded American Energy Production to Relieve Escalating Energy Prices

WASHINGTON – Following President Barack Obama’s press conference today on energy prices and oil supply disruptions, representatives from the Consumer Energy Alliance released the following statements in response to the President’s call for a comprehensive energy policy in 2011:

From CEA President David Holt:

“President Obama’s call today for increased production and the need for a comprehensive U.S. energy plan is a step in the right direction toward developing a robust, balanced domestic energy supply. As a nation, we must look at the vast array of abundant domestic resources currently available to the nation as well as ways to begin development of alternative energy sources. And until we change our nation’s lack of an energy policy, geopolitical forces, such as the Middle East turmoil and oil supply disruptions, will continue to hold Americans hostage to the whims of volatile global events, driving up domestic energy prices and hurting our overall economy.

“While President Obama announced that he is willing to consider opening up the Statregic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) in the near future to relieve pressure on the oil markets, we believe that this action will not provide real, sustained relief for consumers.  Instead, the nation would be better served by fixing our underlying supply-demand and energy security problems by ending the ongoing Administration delays in issuing oil and gas permits and immediately allowing access to domestic energy reserves in the Gulf of Mexico, Alaska, the Southeast and onshore, as well as increasing secure imports from our friends in Canada by expanding pipeline capacity to Houston through the Keystone XL pipeline.”

From CEA Chairman of the Board and vice president & regulatory affairs counsel for the American Trucking Associations Rich Moskowitz:

“With the surge in oil, gasoline and diesel prices that American drivers are coping with these days, it’s clear that our leaders need to take action. With domestic offshore oil production expected to decline by over 10 percent in 2011, this Administration must change course and begin issuing drilling permits and opening up our onshore and offshore lands to exploration and thoughtful development. Our nation’s security and economic well-being depend upon our access to energy as does our ability to compete globally, create jobs and ensure robust economic growth.”

Bringing Solar Power to the Sunshine State

Two years ago, this solar power group gave the sunny state of Florida a grade of “C” for its success – you might say lack thereof – with introducing solar power. The fact that Florida ranked behind several chillier states like New Jersey and Vermont, underscored both how solar can make inroads in climates where the sun does not always shine, but also, how there was much progress yet to be made in some of the most obvious locales. According to one more recent estimate, solar power accounts for just about two percent of all the power consumed in Florida.

But this month, the state of Florida is celebrating a breakthrough that should not only help it earn a better grade for solar power production, but also establish a new paradigm for combining traditional and alternative power sources in ways that lower production costs. Florida Power & Light Co. has unveiled a new power plant, the Martin Next Generation Solar Power Plant, which actually generates power through a combination of natural gas and solar. This hybrid power plant, which has even been equated to the Chevy Volt, was built on the site of an older natural gas power plant and upgraded with the addition of 190,000 solar thermal mirrors. Florida Power & Light says the plant will be the largest solar thermal power plant in the world, outside of the state of California.

In the same way that hybrid cars offer drivers the assurance of a backup source of power, the Martin Next Generation Solar Power Plant will incorporate the natural gas production facilities on the site to improve overall efficiency. Solar plants typically use gas-fired turbines as a source of backup power generation for overcast days. But because Florida Power & Light did not have to build a new steam turbine or new high-power transmission lines, it was able to reduce power generation costs significantly. Last year, when the plant was still under construction, the company’s CEO told the New York Times that these added efficiencies would help solar power compete with some conventional sources. “We’d love to tell you that solar power is as economic as fossil fuels, but the reality is that it is not,” he said.

As the company is now demonstrating with the Martin Next Generation Solar Power Plant, it is possible to generate power from a combination of sources – both unconventional and alternative – so that they complement each other, rather than compete on price.

 

Alaska’s Future: A Battle of Wills

By Dave Harbour
Alaska Standard Contributor

Touring campuses around the country last year, the West Virginia environmental lawyer told his UAA audience that activists should stop coal and other development projects before they reached the permitting stage.   Use all possible obstruction techniques against developers: intimidate them, embarrass them, threaten them with lawsuits, etc.  Most of the young crowd clapped.  I rose, introducing myself as a former regulator, and said, “When the law provides for a regulatory process how can you urge citizens to preempt and violate it?  Aren’t you urging a violation of the rule of law?”  The crowd did not clap.

Now in my 40th year in Alaska, I’ve seen a good number of environmental representatives come and go.   Some of them, years ago, were friends.  Typically, they’d show up at public hearings and make their case for why a project should be modified or how a park should be named.  Many of us worked together to do good things, like create the Cheney Lake Park and greenbelts.   This exercise of free speech never gave rise to alarm about the health of our civilization.

The professional activists leading environmental organizations now are giving me reason to fear for survival of our way of life.  They have big budgets and many employees to feed—requiring dramatic fundraising efforts based on creation of real or imagined environmental doomsday messages.  They are community organizers who work full time to put out of business the very enterprises that sustain our way of life.  They use many techniques and an alphabet soup of agencies and programs to delay or stop development in the NPR-A, ANWR, OCS, etc.:  “CEQ”, “ESA”, “NOAA”, “EPA”, “BOEMRE”, “BLM”, “Critical Habitat”, “Ocean Policy”, “Wild Lands”, “National Monument”, “Wilderness”, etc.

In Alaska, our way of life is sustained by one main enterprise: petroleum.  While the Trans Alaska Pipeline System (TAPS) is 2/3 empty and its throughput is declining at about 7% annually, it still transports the product that funds about 90% of the State’s operating budget.  Oil fuels about a third of the entire economy.  Life without oil would relegate Alaska to a pre-pipeline economy and population.  A good friend and former small-town mayor once said, “I remember life before the pipeline; it was cold, dark and wet”.

Without large, new supplies of oil to offset the decline, operators may have to shut down the pipeline during a cold winter in just a few years.  Pipeline officials have testified in recent days to Legislators in Juneau that even now the pipeline faces the risk of interrupted service.

Alaska’s headquarter city and the entire real estate market of the state depend on TAPS throughput.  Without TAPS most schools – especially in rural Alaska – would close along with most health clinics, village safety and most social service programs.  Most state and many municipal employees would be at risk because most of the 40,000 petroleum related employees would have become unemployed or migrated south.  All big box and little box retail and service businesses would face depressed demand.  Those remaining employed would face reductions in wage and benefits.  State supported programs for veterans, the poor, the disabled and the elderly would dry up.

Lest I paint too drab a picture, we should all take comfort that we could go on living as if the pipeline’s loss meant nothing, if we were willing to spend the Permanent Fund on operating an unsustainable state government for a few more years.  However, at some point, some clever fellow would probably point out that the state already owes its unfunded liability kitty for retired state employees over $10 billion…and then there are jillions of dollars of state and municipal and utility bonds to pay off.

The picture, realistically, is pretty awful, like George Bailey’s (James Stewart’s) dream in, “It’s a Wonderful Life”.  Unlike the movie, our drama is about to unfold in real life.

If our leaders don’t take control of the situation, the situation will control us all: as the future unfolds very deliberately, very logically, and most tragically.  Leaders need to take control in two ways:

First: Leaders need to act decisively to improve Alaska’s investment climate so that the large oil companies invest more in the state.  Though there is no way to structure – at least in a free-enterprise democracy – a guarantee that tax reductions would result in specific investments or local hire policies, we have ample lessons throughout history that reduced costs result in more investments.  In any case, legislators must quit their incessant, persistent effort to extract guarantees from those whom they’ve overtaxed when such demagoguery is futile anyway.

Second: Legislative leaders need to support Governor Sean Parnell’s efforts to stop an overreaching federal government from depriving this and future generations of the statehood compact promise, that  Alaska can support itself with its natural resource wealth. Federal actions affect natural resource development on state, Native and private lands and deprive Alaskans of reasonable access to natural resources on Alaska’s federally controlled lands.

Back to my opening point: environmental activists and their allies are not anxious to improve the investment climate (i.e. opposing passage of HB 110 that would modify the state’s progressive net profit severance tax).  They are most active in supporting the Obama Administration’s very consistent regulatory initiatives to shut down natural resource development in Alaska.

Tomorrow night, the Feds will hold a hearing to get public opinion on their decision to lease tracts of Alaska Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) lands from 2012 to 2017.  Alaskans can find out how to participate by going to my website: www.northerngaspipelines.com.

Meanwhile, Alaskans should know that various environmental groups are planning to testify against OCS when billions of barrels of oil in the OCS near Prudhoe Bay could be moved by undersea pipeline to TAPS and help sustain the lifetime of our pipeline, our economic lifeline.

An example of the professional opposition Alaska residents face is reflected in an email one of my readers sent to me.  The author of the letter is Lindsey Hajduk.

Hajduk is the Sierra Club’s Associate Field Organizer.  Her email urges volunteers to participate in a phone bank to encourage testimony tomorrow night, “To Protect Our Coasts From Offshore Drilling!”  She suggests that her contacts: write letters to the editor; spread the environmental gospel at ‘social clubs’ or ‘faith communities’; make announcements on campus and in classrooms.

This is why I no longer regard environmental activists in Alaska as nice people simply exercising free speech to make the world better.  I regard them as disciplined soldiers working full time as community organizers to create opposition to the very work that sustains our way of life.  Try Goggling ‘Alaska Environmental Organizations’ and you’ll encounter over four dozen with Alaska operations, all of which to one degree or another want to see Alaska’s major source of life support – oil – go away.

Hajduk and her friends seem to preach that their way leads to, “…A Wonderful Life.”  But that seemingly benign siren song is a pretext for thousands of personal tragedies, erosion of our civilization and destruction of our way of life.

We are truly engaged in a battle of wills.  It’s not a game.  It’s for keeps.  And, it’s all about what kind of a life we are preparing for our kids.

See you tomorrow night….

The Alaska Standard

Energy efficiency: The other side of the equation

Last month, when President Obama unveiled the Better Buildings Initiative to provide incentives for businesses to become more energy efficient, we were reminded how efficiency is a critical, but often overlooked component of our national energy policy. Sure, lots of people drive hybrid cars, and use energy-efficient light bulbs in their homes. But beyond this low-hanging fruit, there remains a lot of waste to address.

Consider that last year, commercial buildings consumed about 20% of all the energy in the U.S. economy. Certain industries, such as hospitals, which consume more than twice as much energy as the typical commercial building, have great room for improvement. And the volumes of energy that technology-heavy industries spend on computer servers is so large that it is hard to quantify.

What’s a consumer – already challenged to fill the tank and heat the house – to do? The good news is that even when it comes to large commercial buildings, there are a lot of things that consumers can do to make them more efficient. Consider this recent tip sheet from the Wall Street Journal on ways to make buildings more energy efficient. Number one on the list: Change the corporate culture. This includes a long list of items from banning extras like Christmas lights lining the cubicle to reconsidering the space heater under the desk. Other steps it cited, such as turning off computers at night and lowering cubicle walls to maximize the flow of air and sunlight are also small, individual changes that can make a big difference when adopted en masse.

Clearly it will take more than just turning off the space heater to achieve the 20% reduction in consumption that the Better Buildings Initiative targets. The good news is that on a larger scale too, buildings are making strides. Children’s Hospital Boston has made a series of changes from green lighting to water conservation and better ventilation systems which are saving about $950,000 a year in utility costs. Bentley University in Waltham, Massachusetts has used software to integrate its energy management and has been able to reduce campus-wide energy consumption by 10% in less than a year. And to offer just one more example, Geisinger Health System in Charlotte, North Carolina, has incorporated a series of energy-efficient measures that have reduced greenhouse gas emissions by 80% annually.

Inevitably, when oil prices rise, the consumer in all of us tend to focus on how this will impact the cost of our commutes and our home heating and cooling. It bears reminding that these are not the only ways we pay for power and that if we want to conserve we must be always vigilant, even after we step out of our cars or our homes. Tax incentives, better access to financing and other strategies outlined in the Better Buildings Initiative may help buildings tackle some of their biggest energy challenges, but to achieve lasting efficiency, it will take both big and small steps.

 

CEA: BOEMRE Deepwater Drilling Permit A Good First Step, But Not Enough

CEA: BOEMRE Deepwater Drilling Permit A Good First Step, But Not Enough
Alliance Continues to Urge Administration to Speed Up Approval Process as Gas Pump Prices Skyrocket

WASHINGTON – Following the announcement that the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation
and Enforcement (BOEMRE) approved the first deepwater drilling permit in the Gulf of Mexico since the Deepwater Horizon explosion and resulting oil spill, representatives from

Consumer Energy Alliance released the following statements:

From CEA President David Holt:

“With estimates suggesting that total U.S. oil production will decline by 13 percent in 2011, in large part owing to the “permit freeze” in the Gulf of Mexico, this slowed production and the nation’s corresponding energy price spikes could not come at a worse moment for the economy and American consumers as we begin to move towards an economic recovery.  Through today’s action, American consumers can only hope that the Obama Administration will take the necessary steps to unlock access to the nation’s homegrown, domestic energy sources and allow for the safe exploration of America’s offshore areas for the sake of our national security and independence from foreign energy sources.  The smarter we are about the regulation of our homegrown resources, the easier it will be to depend more on America’s abundant resources and less on the Middle East.”

From CEA Chairman of the Board and vice president & regulatory affairs counsel for the American Trucking Associations Rich Moskowitz:

“BOEMRE’s actions today are a step in the right direction; however, one deepwater permit will not address the high gasoline and diesel prices consumers are now facing.  We remain concerned over our nation’s growing dependence on foreign sources of oil.  With increased turmoil sweeping across the Middle East it is clear that Americans need more affordable and accessible domestic energy supplies to power our trucks, our cars, our homes and our national economy.  We hope that this deepwater permit approval marks the first step towards the Administration embracing a path forward on OCS exploration and production in the Gulf of Mexico and Alaska.”

Consumer Energy Alliance Welcomes New Member NACS

Consumer Energy Alliance Welcomes New Member NACS

HOUSTON — Today, Consumer Energy Alliance (CEA) welcomed  NACS as its newest member. Founded in 1961 as the National Association of Convenience Stores, NACS is an international trade association representing more than 2,100 retail and 1,500 supplier company members.  The U.S. convenience store industry, with more than 146,000 stores across the country, posted $511 billion in total sales in 2009, of which $328 billion was motor fuels sales.

“Consumer Energy Alliance is pleased to announce work more closely with the NACS,” said CEA president David Holt. “Uniting producers and consumers of energy is one of the most essential functions of CEA and the NACS accomplishes this by representing the front line for fuel sales with the consumer.  CEA looks forward to working closely with NACS to provide consumers with credible energy information and learning first-hand some of the concerns consumers have about federal and state energy policies.  With recent troubles in Libya and Egypt and the specter of higher energy prices looming on the horizon finding common sense, balanced energy solutions here in the U.S. has never been more important.”

As the leading retailer of motor fuels, the convenience store industry has a vested interest in legislation and regulations that affect the production, distribution and supply of motor fuels at the retail level.

“With convenience stores selling an estimated 80 percent of the motor fuels purchased in the country, we look forward to elevating the conversation about the future of fuels so that we can collectively define the path forward,” said Corey Fitze, NACS director of government relations.

For more information about NACS, visit www.nacsonline.com.

 

March 2011 Newsletter

March 2011 CEA Newsletter
Issue 48


 

The Difference A Month Makes

A month ago, when I sat down to write this letter and outline the challenges ahead, I was focused on the need to increase drilling activity in the Gulf of Mexico and the ways a stronger national oil industry could create jobs and support economic recovery. Although CEA has long emphasized the need to develop our own energy resources and the dangers of depending on foreign oil, we could not have foreseen how rapidly uprisings would erupt in Egypt, Libya and throughout the Middle East.

The events of the past month have certainly underscored how fragile our ties are with many of the countries on which we depend on for oil. But as I reflect on these still unfolding events, I am struck by how little some things have changed. Uprisings far from home have awakened some to the serious flaws in our national energy policy; CEA has long recognized those flaws and supported policies to promote domestic energy production.

This month, I want to keep the focus on the vast oil reserves that lie within the United States and off its shores. With all the attention the Gulf of Mexico has received since last year’s drilling moratorium, Alaska does not always get the attention it deserves. The fact is, Alaska is not only a massive source of oil and gas, but like the Gulf, it has seen some of its most promising drilling projects held up by delays and red tape. The federal government estimates that Alaska’s Outer Continental Shelf holds more than twice the amount of oil and natural gas that has been produced at Prudhoe Bay which has for decades been a key source of domestic oil. But for a fifth year now, oil companies have been unable to drill 680 leases they acquired off the coast of Alaska. The cause of the delay is not environmental or safety concerns, but the same old “technicalities” that many of us in the oil sector have come to expect.

What is at stake in Alaska? For one thing, jobs. Development of oil and gas resources in Alaska’s Outer Continental Shelf would not only yield about 9.9 billion barrels oil but would create tens of thousands of jobs. In the coming days, CEA will release more detailed research on the impact new drilling in Alaska would have on regional and nationwide employment. During this time of massive federal and state budget deficits, Alaska OCS oil and gas production would also provide billions of future revenues to help offset those deficits.

Finally, oil and gas production in Alaska is a serious national security issue. Because the oil produced there is transported via the 800-mile-long Trans-Alaska-Pipeline, the pipeline is a critical component of our national energy policy. Yet today, the pipeline faces an early demise in the face of diminished shipments from Prudhoe Bay. Without new sources of Alaskan crude, the pipeline could become uneconomical by the end of the decade.

Construction of the Trans-Alaska-Pipeline was an engineering feat back in the 1970s, undertaken at a time of both high unemployment and tense relations with Mideast oil suppliers. It is ironic that decades later, as we face many of the same challenges we saw back then, we are neglecting some of the best resources we have at our disposal.

We have certainly started the year with a full plate. But whether we are talking about jobs, deficits or national security, the search for solutions always leads us back home.

David Holt
President

CEA Call to Action: Encourage Natural Gas Development and Economic Growth
In response to legal action, the Delaware River Basin Commission – a regional authority that oversees the water resources of the Delaware River in Pennsylvania, New York, Delaware and New Jersey – has proposed a series of stringent regulations that will effectively ban natural gas production in its jurisdiction.

Parts of the Marcellus Shale, which could be the second largest natural gas field in the world, may be kept off limits if the Commission proceeds with some of these regulations. Every day, millions of American consumers rely on stable, affordable supplies of natural gas for electricity, heating and end-uses such as fertilizer, chemicals and medicines. Given the abundant supplies the United States has, we must support homegrown energy and the economic and energy security benefits it produces. Please visit the website here to learn more and TAKE ACTION!

As Energy Day 2011 approaches, momentum is really picking up. There has been a couple of interesting Energy Day developments throughout the month of February. On February 24th the first Energy Day Steering Committee meeting took place at the Briar Club in Houston. Also, Consumer Energy Alliance has received an official letter from the office of Houston Mayor Annise Parker in support of Energy Day 2011. The letter applauds CEA and its continued efforts to educate the public in how energy affects our daily lives.

Here are our confirmed sponsors so far:
ABC-13, American Public Power Association , Apache, Bug Ware, Inc., Caterpillar, City of Houston, Consumer Energy Alliance , Consumer Energy Education Foundation, Cooperative for After-School Enrichment (CASE), CSTEM Teacher & Student Support Services, Earth Quest Institute, Eco-Holdings Engineering, Energy People Connect, Environmentally Friendly Drilling Project, Greater Houston Partnership, Green Mountain Energy, Halliburton, Harris County Dept. of Education , Houston Advanced Research Center, Houston Area Land Rover Centers, Houston Independent School District, Museum of Natural Science, Wiess Energy Hall , Houston Renewable Energy Network, Houston Technology Center, KBR, Inc. , Lone Star College, Momentum Luxury Group , NASA-Johnson Space Center , National Algae Association , Offshore Energy Center, Science & Engineering Fair of Houston, Shell, 60 Plus Association, Solar Tour Houston , Statoil, Texas Alliance for Minorities in Engineering, The Wind Alliance, TransCanada, TXU, Western Energy Alliance , University of Houston

We need your participation and involvement to make this an outstanding event! Please email Kathleen at KKoehler@consumerenergyalliance.org for details.

CEA Announces New Energy Day Partner – CSTEM

Headquartered in Houston, the Energy Capital of the World, CSTEM (Communication, Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics), a non-profit organization, was founded to assist teachers in integrating STEM content across grades (P-12) and courses, promote effective, relevant instruction, and offer applied learning opportunities for students. CSTEM recognizes that in order to maintain an economy driven by innovation and ingenuity it is essential that students become college and career ready at an early age to develop the skills and abilities required in the 21st century. The partnership between CSTEM and the Consumer Energy Alliance offers an invaluable opportunity for children and their families to connect classroom learning to real-world experiences. Dr. Reagan Flowers, CSTEM’s Founder and CEO, said “With this changing economy the choices we make as consumers and the investments we make in education are critical in determining our nation’s financial future. As advocates we are positioned to improve and encourage families as well as P-12 classrooms to take a more proactive role in society whether it is through practicing energy saving tips, or understanding the impact recycling waste has on job creation.”

CEA Weighs in at Offshore Leasing Hearings

Over the past two weeks, Consumer Energy Alliance has been busy participating in a series of public hearings to discuss the future of offshore development. The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement (BOEMRE) held meetings in Houston, New Orleans, Mobile, Anchorage and DC, as well as a handful of meetings in coastal villages in Alaska, to solicit input from the public on its next five-year leasing plan.
 
Specifically, the BOEMRE is examining areas to be included in its Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) –a key step toward deciding where leasing for oil and gas development will occur between 2012-2017, the timeframe of the next five-year plan.
 
Throughout these meetings, CEA focused on two primary sentiments: the economic potential of offshore production and the energy security benefits increased production can have for consumers. In the Gulf Coast, hard economic times have been compounded by a de facto moratorium on offshore drilling that has forced companies to idle workers, send rigs overseas and even file for bankruptcy. Conversely, Alaska’s future remains in question as even exploratory offshore drilling has been halted by permitting delays. Without new production to make up for declining onshore production, the Trans-Alaska Pipeline may be forced to close taking thousands of jobs and billions in revenue with it.
 
In New Orleans, Houston and DC, the crowds were fairly small and only a good handful of people spoke. In each meeting, the speakers were fairly divided between those who supported offshore development versus those who do not, with some in the middle who simply supported the BOEMRE process.
 
In Mobile and Anchorage, on the other hand, both events demonstrated the strong public support for offshore development. In Mobile, a much larger crowd of over 80 people attended, and several speakers echoed the need for expanded leasing and further decried the permitting issues that have plagued the region. In Anchorage, scores of pro-development advocates attended and over 100 people signed up to testify.
 
Overall, the BOEMRE hearings demonstrated the public’s desire to proceed with safe, responsible offshore production as a means to spur economic growth and provide better energy security. CEA was happy to attend and voice our support for consumer needs, and we hope the federal government heard our message loud and clear.

Take This Bill…and Measure It

Finding a starting point from which to measure is often the hardest first step to evaluating the efficiency of your home’s energy usage. The U.S. Department of Energy is helping us evaluate our households and compare them to others across the country so that we may better understand how to begin to prioritize and conserve. You will need the following information to calculate your “score”:
  1. Your last 12 months of utility bills
  2. Energy sources from your home (i.e. natural gas, electricity, fuel oil, propane, kerosene, etc.)
  3. The square footage of your home
  4. 5 minutes to plug in the information and get your results!
Visit the website today to receive your totals, compare to others across the country, and get recommendations for improvement!


National Energy Education Development Project (NEED) 

The NEED Project was founded in 1980 to design and deliver objective energy education curriculum and teacher training to students and teachers in grades K-12.  As a 501(c)(3) organization, NEED works in partnership with local, state, and federal government energy agencies, private corporations and trade associations interested in encouraging greater energy literacy among teachers, students, and families.  NEED’s vast portfolio of energy curriculum spans the science of energy (forms and transformations), renewable and nonrenewable energy sources, electricity, transportation, and residential and institutional energy efficiency.  NEED works with partners to develop special signature curriculum modules like the LNG: Exploring Liquified Natural Gas (in partnership with Southern LNG) and the recent Exploring Carbon Capture and Storage completed with the support of the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Fossil Energy and the United States Energy Association.  NEED provides over 600 teacher training programs a year, serving all 50 states and the U.S. territories.  From installing solar and wind on schools to hosting workshops about offshore oil and gas development, NEED programs provides  educators the content knowledge needed to teach about energy confidently in the classroom and provides the resources to engage students in effective teaching and learning – inspiring today’s kids to consider careers in the energy industry of tomorrow.  Furthermore, NEED hosts the National Youth Awards for Energy Achievement in Washington, D.C. each June and the National Energy Conference for Educators each July (this year in Denver, Colorado July 10-14).

“NEED is proud to be a CEA member and support CEA’s efforts to educate decision makers and the general public about the energy issues we face today and tomorrow.  The partnerships we have with many CEA members increase the possibility for tomorrow’s leaders to make smart energy decisions, “said Mary Spruill, executive director.

CEA members seeking a partner for energy education and outreach efforts may want to visit www.need.org for more information.

Amid Mid-Eastern chaos Alaska could strengthen America

By Dave Harbour

A year ago our family visited countries now ablaze in rebellion. We toured museums, pyramids, mosques and ancient byzantine cathedrals. We easily distinguished the sheiks arrayed in king-like robes with golden and black headwear – from proud but poorer Bedouin with dusty, camel hide sandals and plainer, cotton robes.

We walked the markets of Cairo, Aswan and Luxor suspecting 50 percent unemployment: markets colored with exotic fabrics … multi-colored cones of spices piled high for sale by the kilo … all amid the din of haranguing vendors, squawky cane flutes, camel odors and a dozen dessert dialects.

I’ll never forget the thousands of young men between the ages of 16 and 40 who poised behind street bazaar counters selling oranges or sitting on curbs, staring at tourists like me: analyzing our shirt fabric, our faces and the cost of our shoes.

I remember visions from the deck of our Nile tour boat: sunsets over ancient castles, sand dunes, belching smokestacks, seagulls and a million of the Nile’s famous felucca sailboats.

I remember that everywhere we went a friendly and cocky, 30-year-old “tourist guard” accompanied us with a machine gun poking out of his back pocket, causing his blue suit coat to bulge proudly in the rear.

We’ll never forget our evening with Dr. Zahi Hawass and how proud he was of his Cairo Museum, now violated by rioting and thefts of priceless artifacts.

It seemed the humanity of Egypt and Jordan boiled quietly but powerfully, awaiting relief like contained contents of a very hot pressure cooker.

While life is dramatically changing for the great Middle Eastern humanity, so will our lives change. The question is: will America use this sobering, historical upheaval to improve our lives or not?

One way America could benefit from events 6,000 miles away is becoming more aware of our dependence on Middle East oil. While we rely more on Canada than the Middle East for our own energy use, as of last year we were still sending to the countries around the Sahara and Persian Gulf $300 billion to $500 billion a year, depending on how you calculate the price of oil. In total, I’d guess that with today’s higher oil prices we’ll probably ship well over $750 billion from America to all foreign producers this year in return for their oil. And with the money, we’ll ship jobs, our national wealth and economic stimulus.

Any school child could cite a better energy policy: develop our own resources. Why not develop our billions of barrels of oil from areas the Obama Administration keeps off limits: offshore East Coast, Florida, California, the Rocky Mountains and, yes, Alaska?

Another way America could benefit from events “over there” is to quit throwing away our kids’ money on subsidies for wasteful energy projects. I say our kids’ money because subsidies for political cronies’ alternative energy projects get America deeper into debt that others must later pay. Hey, I’m for alternative energy — the more the better — as long as it pencils and you don’t make me give you a grant to subsidize your dream.

Here’s an example: renewable energy currently provides less than 2 percent of our energy needs. Yet the current administration supports providing thousands of acres for solar farms to produce intermittent electricity at nearly 10 times the cost of a coal-fired plant.

Meanwhile, it delays issuance of permits to Shell Oil to explore some of the Alaska outer continental shelf leases it purchased in good faith from the federal government three years ago at a cost of more than $2 billion. Now, the company has spent nearly $4 billion — fighting lawsuits and trying to please hostile bureaucrats in Washington. The delaying tactics of those regulators is shameful and has resulted in no 2011 work and 800 lost Alaskan jobs.

This month, the Interior Department’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement (BOEMRE) scheduled hearings in Anchorage, in coastal villages and in the Lower 48 to determine the interest of Alaskans and others in its 2012-2017 Lease Sale Planning. We can only hope that this agency gets the message that it works for all Americans – not for foreign oil suppliers and eco-extremists.

We can only hope that sorrowful events a half-world away impress upon decision makers the importance of conducting robust domestic lease sales – then issuing timely permits to leaseholders. Following this path, Alaska could stimulate America’s economic recovery and secure the next generation’s future.

Dave Harbour is former chairman of the Regulatory Commission of Alaska, the Anchorage Chamber of Commerce and the Alaska Council on Economic Education. He is publisher of: www.northerngaspipelines.com.

The Alaska Journal of Commerce

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