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CEA: Study Confirms Significant National Value of Developing America’s Domestic Resources

CEA: Study Confirms Significant National Value of Developing America’s Domestic Resources
Benefits to Include Increased Oil & Gas Resources, Enhanced Energy Security,
Thousands of New Jobs and Billions of Income, Government Revenue

WASHINGTON – The development of oil and gas resources in Alaska’s Arctic outer continental shelf (OCS) could produce almost 10 billion barrels of oil and 15 trillion cubic feet of natural gas – creating an annual average of almost 55,000 new jobs and $145 billion in new payroll nationally, as well as a total of $193 billion in government revenue through the year 2057 – according to a new study by the Northern Economics’ and the Institute for Social and Economic Research (ISER) at the University of Alaska.

“Considering the last six weeks of turmoil throughout the Middle East and now in Libya, this study once again reminds us of the need to improve access to America’s domestic petroleum supplies,” said Consumer Energy Alliance (CEA) President David Holt. “Instead of continuing down the path of dependency to foreign oil supplies and weak energy security, our leaders need to adopt an ‘all of the above’ energy approach that leverages our resources – from Alaska to the Gulf and across the nation – to create an economy-boosting energy plan for America.”

About 77 percent of world oil reserves are owned or controlled by national governments and the U.S. currently imports over 60 percent of its crude oil. Northern Economics estimates that Arctic offshore development could cut this by about 9 percent over 35 years.

Added Holt: “Impediments to more American energy continue to be found above ground, not below.  We know we have the resources to generate these jobs, revenue and economic growth – as demonstrated by the billions of dollars already invested in the Alaska OCS.  Yet, companies are being prevented from acting on these investments by permitting delays, frivolous litigation and other makeshift roadblocks.”

“America cannot continue to rely on unstable, foreign sources of energy while declaring the nation’s abundant resources off limits.  Until policymakers begin promoting the development of domestic energy supplies, U.S. consumers will become increasingly dependent upon foreign sources of oil and energy-dependent industries – like the trucking industry – will continue to experience volatile energy prices,” said Chairman of the Board and vice president & regulatory affairs counsel for the American Trucking Associations Rich Moskowitz. “As confirmed by this study, Alaskan energy remains a critical part of our goal of increasing the nation’s supply of affordable, reliable energy and strengthening U.S. energy security.” 

According to the report, increased OCS production in Alaska would also extend the operating life of the 800-mile Trans-Alaska Pipeline System (TAPS). While today it delivers 14 percent of domestic oil production to refineries on the West Coast, TAPS is anticipated to meet operating difficulties when throughput falls below 500,000 barrels per day.

“With consumers paying about 50 cents more a gallon at the pump than a year ago and food prices escalating in recent months, it’s clear that we need a drastic change in U.S. energy policy. Given the current political turmoil in the Middle East and America’s continued dependency on foreign oil imports, it is absolutely essential that we develop Alaska’s OCS to increase domestic production and keep TAPS running,” Holt concluded.

Resources:

A tenuous situation becomes more so

Even those of us who have warned all along of the dangers of depending on foreign crude have been watching Libya with astonishment this week, seeing how swiftly a seemingly stable situation can unravel. While the recent unrest in Egypt that led to the ousting of President Mubarak sparked concerns about the safe transport of oil through the region, what we are now seeing in Libya is potentially far more devastating. For one thing, Libya has the largest proven oil reserves in Africa. And, the speed with which unrest is now spreading from one Mideast country to another is raising questions about the ability of other oil exporters to offset any production disruptions in Libya.

There is a new sense throughout the Middle East that stability is an illusion and that the political tensions we once viewed as distant, somewhat abstract threats, are upon us. That’s probably why oil prices are continuing to rise, even after Saudi oil officials moved to quell fears by stressing that it and other major producers had the capacity to offset any production lost in Libya. Indeed, while Saudi Arabia was stating that it had spare capacity, oil prices were moving higher amid concerns that Saudi Arabia could be the next site of an uprising. One energy security specialist explained it this way:

If they want (freedom) in Libya, which has a GDP-per-capita of around $12,000, why shouldn’t they want the same in Saudi Arabia, whose income per head is only slightly higher at $14,000 a year?

Already, Brent crude oil prices have moved above $105 a barrel while here in the U.S., average gasoline prices are at a two year high and approaching levels seen during the summer of 2007. They likely have not yet peaked. Standard & Poor’s Chief Economist David Wyss said that supply disruptions from Saudi Arabia or Iran would likely send oil prices to $200 a barrel, well above the $148 per barrel seen back in 2007. Economists understand how devastating such prices would be for the U.S. economy and have cautioned that such a sudden sharp price rise to $150 or higher would inevitably lead us back to recession. Investors are concerned as well. Stock prices fell sharply on Tuesday as the world watched Libya.

We will continue watching with hope for the best possible outcome for the people of Libya. The United States should be able to confront oppressive dictators who harm their own people without having to consider the impact to oil markets and the economy.

Offshore oil is Alaska’s lifeline: Federal hearings bypass Interior Alaska’s voices

By: Dave Harbour

The Alaska House Resources Committee recently heard truck drivers, oil field workers and small business owners testify about Alaska’s poor investment climate. They painted pictures of wage freezes, layoffs, benefit reductions and outmigration of experienced Alaskans to the booming oil and gas investment climate of North Dakota.

While uncompetitive and burdensome state tax policies affect oil and gas investment and jobs on state lands, federal policies that also affect our investment climate are choking the economy as well.

As unrest continues throughout the Middle East and gas pump prices are jumping to the highest level ever for this time of year, we recall similar times from America’s past. During the oil crisis of the 1970s, Americans faced what seemed like insurmountable economic and energy challenges, but instead of retreating, the nation pushed for U.S. energy independence. By advancing offshore oil and gas production and constructing the trans-Alaska oil pipeline system, America rejuvenated development of domestic resources, economic growth, job creation and revenue for the federal treasury.

Given America’s economic challenges and our supply of abundant oil and natural gas reserves, this is a history lesson worth remembering — particularly for policymakers in Washington, D.C., who consistently deny citizens access to our own, domestic resources.

What is our domestic energy potential?

In 2006, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement estimated that all the undiscovered, technically recoverable oil and natural gas resources located in known oil and gas fields in the U.S. outer continental shelf was about

66 billion to 115 billion barrels of oil and 326 trillion to 565 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. Isn’t it illogical that our own government would block access to such large quantities of American energy while we continue sending our jobs and wealth to foreign countries that are eager to put their people to work developing their resources for our money?

Alaska’s ample energy resources could significantly increase U.S. energy supplies. According to federal government estimates, the waters off Alaska’s coasts contain about

27 billion barrels of oil and 132 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. Alaska holds the eighth-largest oil reserve in the world, ahead of Nigeria, Libya, Russia and Norway.

With Alaska’s strong supply reserve, it’s no wonder the oil, gas and support industries supply more than 40,000 jobs in the state, which add more than $6 billion to Alaska’s gross state product. During this period of high unemployment and tough economic challenges, Alaska’s OCS could serve as a true economic stimulus across the nation, creating tens of thousands of high-paying jobs for decades to come.

So, if Alaska OCS development offers thousands of jobs and economic benefits to Alaska and the entire nation, what are we waiting for?

Unfortunately, the federal government refuses to keep faith with its obligation to its leaseholders and issue viable permits to drill offshore Alaska. That unjustified obstruction of our own federal government blocks access to our energy resources while outsourcing American jobs, government revenue and economic benefits to exporting countries. Misguided or poorly motivated bureaucrats are threatening the long-term viability of the pipeline, tens of thousands of Alaska jobs and the third of our economy that depends on that economic lifeline.

The Interior Department’s BOEMRE has been holding hearings for input on areas to include in its next five-year plan for offshore oil and gas leasing, which includes areas in the Chukchi and Beaufort Seas and the Cook Inlet. BOEMRE and other agencies have stalled existing Alaska OCS development for more than two years. We need to tell them to responsibly permit existing projects now and lease new areas as soon as possible.

Hearings began Feb. 14 in Kotzebue and continued in Kotzebue, Wainwright, Barrow, Nuiqsut, Kaktovik, Houston, New Orleans and Dulles Airport. BOEMRE will bypass Fairbanks and end in Anchorage Friday, at 7 p.m., in its office at 3801 Centerpoint Dr.

Since OCS oil could help sustain our two-thirds empty pipeline, I’m hoping many Alaskans will come to the Friday hearing — including Interior friends with family and associates in Anchorage. Come early, because environmental “community organizers” are trying to turn out the anti-jobs crowd.

Then, let’s tell the Interior Department that, in the future, Interior Alaska should be consulted and included in hearing schedules, since the department’s OCS decisions affect the entire economy and jobs throughout the entire state, not just in coastal areas.

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.

Your backyard, and a world away

In most parts of the country, the latest spike in oil prices is hitting in the midst of a relentlessly cold winter, and consumers are being squeezed. To offer just one example of how this is playing out, heating oil distributors in Maine say a growing number of customers are struggling to pay for the fuel needed to warm their homes. Increasingly, they are enrolling in payment plans and making purchases in small increments rather than filling up their tanks.

Truckers in Minnesota are discovering that higher diesel fuel prices are having a pretty immediate trickle down effect in the form of lower salaries from employers attempting to offset higher expenses.

And in Arizona, even though gas prices remain below the national average, they have, at close to $3 a gallon, reached a point that routine commutes are getting costly.

These stories – three snapshots of what higher oil prices mean for anyone trying to work, run a business, or just maintain a household – are common all around the country.  Most of us are all too familiar with the way that rising oil prices impact our lives.  As the recent discussion of the world oil market has focused on the uprising in Egypt, it bears reminding that these events are touching all of us in our own backyards.

Prices have fortunately not reached the peaks seen back in the summer of 2008, but this time there are other worrisome factors: the bitter cold weather and the ongoing unemployment crisis. After three years of a slugglish economy, many consumers have little if any discretionary income. Businesses are also operating close to the bone and often cannot afford to absorb higher operating costs.

In a compelling op-ed in Politico last week, Randall Luthi, the President of the National Ocean Industries Association connected the dots between the unrest in Egypt and your wallet:

As a jittery world watches Egypt, we Americans need look no further than our own shores to find the answer to a disruption of a big source of oil. We import around 60 percent of our oil, with an estimated 20 percent from the Middle East. Saudi Arabia sends just under one million barrels of oil per day. Untapped and unexplored oil and gas resources off the U.S. coast contain an estimated 44.4 billion barrels of oil and 183.2 trillion cubic feet of natural gas.

Luthi titled his piece Mideast unrest no cause for oil hike, but his actual point is that the unrest we see half a world away need not impact the prices for basic necessities here at home. Under our current energy policy, all of us remain at the mercy of events far from our shores and out of our control. As Luthi says, “The Obama administration is apparently content to bet our energy security on the shifting Mideast political sands.”

Shell Alaska Announcement Demonstrates Difficult Permitting Environment

Shell Alaska Announcement Demonstrates Difficult Permitting Environment

HOUSTON — This afternoon, Shell announced it will forgo a 2011 drilling program in Alaska based on the recent remand of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) air permits, and will use the remainder of the calendar year to work with regulators to obtain the permits needed for an expanded 2012 exploratory drilling campaign. Consumer Energy Alliance (CEA) president David Holt, released the following statement on today’s announcement:

“With the U.S. Department of Energy estimating that oil may hit $110 per barrel by the end of year, this announcement could not come at a worse moment for American consumers. During these times of high unemployment, a recovering but unstable economy and continued turmoil in the Middle East, this decision highlights the shortfalls of our nation’s energy policy. Rather than restricting access to homegrown energy sources and forcing oil and gas producers to abandon critical revenue-generating projects, we need to instead consider the benefits of thoughtfully and safely exploring Alaska and other offshore areas for the sake of our national security and independence from foreign energy sources.

“Given that Alaska’s offshore potential is estimated at 27 billion barrels of oil and 132 trillion cubic feet of natural gas, clearly that state’s energy supplies – with the help of the trans-Alaska pipeline — will continue to play a crucial part of America’s future energy security.  Further, ensuring that the trans-Alaska pipeline is operating and able to provide the nation with oil and natural gas today and well into the future, is a critical issue for both U.S. energy security and our national security.  Without TAPs, California would have to immediately turn to Russia to meet its crude oil needs, and, given Russia’s recent use of its natural gas as a political tool against Eastern Europe, I’m not sure this is a contingency plan that is in our best interests.

“By safely and efficiently exploring offshore Alaska, the U.S. stands to gain much-needed royalty and tax revenues, as well as tens-of-thousands of American jobs spread throughout the nation – providing the U.S. with an economic stimulus that will strengthen future generations to come. “With the federal government already receiving more than $3 billion in revenues from companies seeking to invest in Alaska’s offshore, and tens of billions of new federal revenues to come once development begins, it makes sense for the Administration to allow thoughtful, safe exploratory develop to occur.  No other federal revenue source offers more promise at a time of record deficits, unmanageable debt and the need for fiscal responsibility. While we are disappointed with the delays caused by the EPA’s inability to issue key air permits in Alaska’s offshore, CEA looks forward to working with policymakers to ensure continued access to affordable energy supplies for the nation’s consumers– from the North Slope to the Gulf Coast.”

Senate ENR Committee Hearing Highlights Weakness In American Energy Policy

Senate ENR Committee Hearing Highlights Weakness In American Energy Policy
Consumer Energy Alliance Calls for Access to More Domestic Energy Resources

Washington, D.C. — This morning, the Senate Energy & Natural Resources Committee heard testimony from four renowned energy research and advisory organizations on the current state of the world energy markets, with the backdrop of the Egyptian protests occurring in the heart of the world’s oil and gas supply. Among other topics, the four testifying organizations – the Energy Information Administration, the International Energy Agency, PFC Energy and Cambridge Energy Research Associates – indicated that a growing global middle class will raise world oil demand significantly through at least 2030, and that oil prices are expected to climb to $125 per barrel by 2025. Consumer Energy Alliance (CEA) president David Holt, and vice president Michael Whatley released these statements on today’s testimony:

“An average price of $3.17 per gallon for gasoline in 2011 is a tough figure for the American people to hear,” said Holt. “While the statistics we learned today represent a grim reality of the price American consumers are paying for their everyday fuels, they only solidify what we already knew: our nation is too reliant on foreign energy supplies, rather than accessing safe and reliable supplies here at home – starting with energy waiting to be unleashed off our nation’s coasts. As Judge Martin Feldman’s contempt order against the Department of Interior (DOI) signaled loud and clear once again today, the tremendous resources, economic opportunity and jobs in the Gulf Coast region will continue to be locked away until DOI improves and begins to take action to issue federal offshore permits for the Gulf of Mexico and Alaska. Combined with our growing wind and solar options throughout the country, among others, American oil and gas can work just as well as that which we receive from the Middle East, while keeping the jobs and revenue here at home.”

“The one great piece of news that we have seen this week is the report issued by the Department of Energy regarding the potential impacts of the proposed Keystone XL pipeline,” said Whatley. “The fact that we can ‘very substantially reduce’ imports of overseas oil without raising global greenhouse gases with the construction of this project is very exciting – particularly when considered in tandem with the uncertainty caused by the current unrest in Egypt. Together, the thousands of good-paying jobs and increased energy security that will be created by the project can provide a significant countermeasure to the concerns raised by current events in the Middle East.”

What unrest in Egypt means for oil prices at home

Americans are all too familiar with the ways political instability in oil rich places like Iraq and Saudi Arabia impact the price they pay for gasoline and heating oil. This week, amid widespread unrest in Egypt, we’ve gotten a sobering reminder that even countries that are not large oil producers can influence global crude oil prices. Indeed, it is a small and tightly interconnected world when it comes to the politics of oil and gas.

Crude oil prices have been volatile, surpassing $100 a barrel, and most people are pointing to the situation in Egypt for an explanation. In many ways, this is a familiar story that has been playing out for decades in different parts of the world. The difference this time is that Egypt has very little oil. Its ability to influence world oil prices results from its control of the Suez Canal, which as a key waterway connecting the Middle East and Europe, is the gateway for two million barrels of oil being transported to points west per day.

While different world leaders in the past have attempted to influence oil prices for their own gain, this is not what is happening in Egypt, where local residents are more worried about food prices there than gasoline prices here. But if increased volatility in world crude prices was a totally unintended consequence of the uprising, it is no less significant to oil-dependent economies like our own. In short, Egypt has caught us all off guard.

One of the many lessons of the turmoil rapidly unfolding in Egypt is that, when it comes to the complex geopolitics of oil, it is hard to predict where the next threat will come from.  We focus directly on a relatively small but influential number of oil-exporting nations, often failing to recognize how dependence on foreign oil also leaves us vulnerable to events occurring elsewhere. As a country, we should be able to react to events in Egypt without the impact on oil being our primary concern. Unfortunately, until we have a smart, balanced energy policy, it will be harder to mitigate the effects of overseas events on our energy prices.

February 2011 CEA Newsletter

February 2011 CEA Newsletter
Issue 47


 

Fresh Starts and Old Challenges

We kick off this new year with great optimism that, three years after the nation’s economy plunged into the worst recession since the Great Depression, there is finally light at the end of the tunnel. Indeed, the country is once again creating jobs and our innovative spirit seems to have come out of the downturn intact. From the oil rigs in the Gulf of Mexico to the wind farms that dot our interior, businesses are eager to invest in new technology that will keep the United States competitive and create more jobs.

Of course, there is still much more work to be done. Millions of Americans are still unemployed, gasoline prices are rising and threatening the success of our still-fragile recovery, and the nation’s key energy-producing region is still trying to find a pathway toward recovery from a devastating accident, a sweeping, open-ended drilling moratorium and protracted regulatory uncertainty. At a time that the nation needs to be creating jobs, we are at risk of losing more jobs unless drilling activity in the Gulf is allowed to pick up.

CEA’s February newsletter offers some important information on how you can help. Last year, we initiated a Call to Action to tell the Obama Administration, Congress and State leaders how much of an impact energy has on job creation, and we are expanding that effort this year. As I write this letter, President Obama has just concluded his State of the Union address, which was a rather vague speech that paid lip service to the need for an “all of the above” strategy, properly highlighted the need for more solar, wind and biomass, but then signaled reduced support for the oil and gas industry – the exact resources we use each and every day (and will continue to use for the next 50 to 100 years).

We need to continue to connect the dots and remind policymakers that a strong domestic energy industry means a stronger economy, more affordable energy prices, and more jobs. CEA did just that last week when we sent our “Recommendations for a Balanced Energy Policy” to each and every member of Congress.  Our commonsense approach contains sections on a wide variety of key energy issues, including: the development of oil and natural gas resources, wind, oil shale, rare earth elements, advanced biofuels and solar technologies, expansion of nuclear power, combined heat and power, and carbon capture and storage, as well as incentives to spur further energy efficiency, and many others.

We will work with you and all our elected leaders to make sure that our collective voices are heard and sound, sensible energy solutions are enacted that spur economic growth, create jobs and generate much-needed local, state and federal revenues.

As an alliance that works to empower consumers to influence policy and also make smart personal decisions about energy, CEA wants to remind you that even when our challenges seem too big to overcome, each of us can make a small difference. This month’s consumer corner offers some reminders of the ways to lighten your own personal energy load, particularly by unloading your car. Using a car as a storage bin is not good energy policy, it actually increases fuel consumption!

On behalf of CEA, I wish you all a happy new year and I look forward to working together in 2011 toward our common objectives.

David Holt
President

CEA Call to Action: Tell The Obama Administration That We Need Jobs!
Following the Deepwater Horizon tragedy in April 2010, the Obama Administration instituted a temporary moratorium on all deepwater drilling for oil and natural gas and continues to delay permitting for many offshore operations. Thanks in part to these delays, domestic production of oil will decline by 20,000 barrels a day in 2011 and by 130,000 barrels a day in 2012.

Currently, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Enforcement and Regulation (BOEMRE) is beginning to look at areas to be included for in the 2012-2017 offshore oil and gas leasing program. Previously, the Obama Administration intended to include areas in the Mid- and South-Atlantic as well as parts of the Eastern Gulf of Mexico. However, just last month, the Administration decided not to include these areas. Now, we must make sure other areas are not excluded from potential leases. Click here to learn more and TAKE ACTION!

Momentum is steadily building for Energy Day 2011, and our sponsor list continues to grow! 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), Earth Quest Institute, Energy People Connect, Environmentally Conscious Consumers for Oil Shale, Environmentally Friendly Drilling Project, Greater Houston Partnership, Halliburton, Harris County Department of Education, Houston Advanced Research Center, Houston Independent School District , Houston Museum of Natural Science Wiess Energy Hall, Houston Renewable Energy Network, Houston Technology Center, Lone Star College, NASA-Johnson Space Center, National Algae Association, Offshore Energy Center, Science and Engineering Fair of Houston, Shell, Solar Tour Houston, The Wind Alliance, TXU, University of Houston, Western Energy Alliance, YES Prep Public Schools, 60 Plus Association

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

CEA Releases Recommendations for 112th Congress

Consumer Energy Alliance (CEA) outlined a host of commonsense recommendations advocating an “all of the above” national energy plan in a briefing book issued on January 24th to the 112th Congress. The book “Recommendations for a Balanced Energy Policy: A Briefing Book Presented to the 112th U.S. Congress,” focuses on policy changes that could improve the U.S. economy by using affordable energy as a means of creating new jobs, sending revenues back to the states, protecting the environment and responding to climate change. Click here to view and/or download the briefing book.

CEA Announces New Affiliate Members

National Association of Convenience Stores
CEA is pleased to welcome the National Association of Convenience Stores (NACS) as a new affiliate. NACS is an international trade association representing more than 2,100 retail and 1,500 supplier company members. NACS member companies do business in nearly 50 countries worldwide, with the majority of members based in the United States. The U.S. convenience store industry, with nearly 145,000 stores across the country, posted $511 billion in total sales in 2009, with $328 billion in motor fuels sales.

NACS serves the convenience and petroleum retailing industry by providing industry knowledge, connections and advocacy to ensure the competitive viability of its members’ businesses. In 2007, the association shortened its name to NACS and added a tagline that better defines its presence both internationally and at the retail fueling level: The Association for Convenience and Petroleum Retailing. Click here to visit their website.

Houston Renewable Energy Network
The mission of the Houston Renewable Energy Network (HREN) is to promote awareness and education of renewable energy technologies and markets among energy professionals in the Greater Houston Metro area. The HREN also serves as a networking ground for people with commercial and/or career interests in the Renewable Energy space. TheHREN hosts quarterly speaking events which typically occur on Friday mornings and are open to the public. Click here to visit their website.

The Science and Engineering Fair of Houston This year will mark the 52nd anniversary of the Science and Engineering Fair of Houston. The science fair is open to all public, private, charter, and home school students in grades 7-12 within the Houston area. It is supervised by a board of directors and sponsored by the University of Houston-Downtown, the Greater Houston Partnership, the Engineering, Science and Technology Council of Houston (ECH), the Consumer Energy Alliance(CEA) and the Houston Museum of Natural Science. Businesses, foundations, industrial and technical organizations, and professional societies annually donate about 85% of the Fair’s operating funds. From these many groups come the more than 1,200 volunteers responsible for the major fair committees and activities associated with SEFH.

Click here to visit the website for SEFH and learn more about this annual event.

CEA Announces New Director for CEA Florida

CEA is pleased to announce that Matthew D. Ubben, formerly vice president of the Florida Trucking Association, is the new Executive of CEA’s Florida chapter.  Many Floridians know Matt from walking the halls of the Capitol on behalf of various clients as well as his various senior management positions in State government, which include serving as public affairs director at the Florida Transportation Commission.  Prior to coming to Tallahassee 14 years ago, Matt spent more than a decade in various public affairs positions in Washington, including managing political action committees from United Technologies Corporation and MCI as well as lobbying for the Helicopter Association International.

What We Can Do As Fuel Prices Continue To Rise

We’ve been here before. We were hoping not to arrive at this junction again, but here we are once more on the brink of oil prices reaching $100 a barrel. Throughout the month of January, this prediction seemed to become more and more of an imminent reality, and so as consumers, it’s time once more to think about how we might prepare ourselves (and our wallets) for the coming year.

According to the Department of Energy, here are some ways we might lower our fuel costs and help save a little cash:

  1. Slow down. Faster driving and aggressive driving wastes gas.
  2. Keep your car maintained and running smoothly.
  3. Use your engine wisely. Avoid excessive idling and utilize cruise control when possible.
  4. Be smart about trip routes and initiate carpools.
  5. Keep your car light. Avoid using your car as a storage bin!


Environmentally Conscious Consumers for Oil Shale (ECCOS)
ECCOS is an organization with the mission to educate and inform people about oil shale and current issues in energy  by focusing on reaching out to ordinary members of the public and to students.  “We do not promote a “drill here, drill now” pro-oil shale agenda.  We simply want people to know the facts about oil shale – the size of the resource, where it is located, the technologies now being developed to extract it, environmental challenges, political challenges, potential economic benefits, and national issues, including energy prices, oil imports, trade deficits, etc.  If we promote anything, it is continued research and development into oil shale,” said Curtis Moore, Executive Director of ECCOS. “Many opponents of fossil fuels simply wish to give up completely on oil shale, because they believe the costs are too great to extract and utilize it.  Because of the sheer size of the resource, the fact that it is here in America, and the fact that – like it or not – we will use lots of oil for many decades to come, we don’t think we should give up on oil shale.  The stakes are simply too high.  Therefore, we believe should keep working to see if we can develop and utilize it responsibly.  If so, it would literally revolutionize world energy dynamics.”

ECCOS is a strong affiliate of CEA, and represents a partnership with common goals of energy responsibility, economic security, and education. Through the CEA’s publications, events, and programs, they can disseminate information in a meaningful way with a consumer voice. “Like ECCOS, the CEA is pro-energy and pro-growth,” says Moore.  “I believe we’re also both optimists about America’s future.  And, if you believe America has a bright economic future, it is very clear that we are going to need a lot of affordable energy.  To produce that energy, trade-offs and analyses of the costs-and-benefits of various energy sources will have to be carefully considered.  Through CEA, we can help make sure the debate on oil shale is fair and fact-based.”

Mixed messages from President’s State of the Union address

In his January 25 State of the Union address, President Obama spoke of the need to “out-innovate” and “out-build” the rest of the world. He pledged to never put unnecessary burdens on business. And, he recognized the crucial role that the energy industry plays in the national economy, saying that we would need to tap a wide range of sources to meet our future energy needs.

Though his support for expanded renewable energy, nuclear power, clean coal and natural gas is an excellent step in the right direction, the President did not acknowledge how critical oil is to our energy future. The oil industry remains the foundation of the country’s energy sector, the source of most of our energy-related jobs, and the key to affordable and stable gasoline prices for all Americans.

We are pleased to see Obama so focused on the need to create more jobs, but we are dismayed by his failure to acknowledge that creating and preserving jobs requires support of those industries that employ workers. We were hoping the President might discuss energy policy in the Gulf of Mexico, a region that has been devastated: first by an official drilling moratorium and now by what seems an unofficial policy of limiting drilling activity by slowing down the permitting process.

President Obama went on to recognize what those of us at CEA have been saying for years – That it will take all kinds of energy to carry the country into the future. He understands that it would be foolhardy for such a large and growing country to stake its future on a single source of power. Obama referenced solar, wind, and nuclear as well as natural gas which he said would all be important parts of our energy policy going forward. We agree. However, we can only interpret his expressed support of natural gas -while at the same time distancing himself from the oil sector – as a bit of a mixed message.

The nation needs clarity, not rhetoric. It needs jobs, not job-killing regulations. It needs an energy policy that will help ensure American individuals and industries will be able to afford the energy they need to support their households and engage in business that will contribute to a thriving economy. And we are still waiting.

CEA: ‘State of the Union’ Addresses Energy Need, But Too Narrow In Scope

CEA: ‘State of the Union’ Addresses Energy Need, But Too Narrow In Scope
Alliance Continues to Advocate for Expanded American Energy Policy

WASHINGTON – Following President Barack Obama’s second State of the Union address, representatives from the Consumer Energy Alliance released the following statements in response to the President’s call for a renewable-based energy economy in 2011:

From CEA President David Holt:

“President Obama’s vision for a more robust renewable energy economy is a step in the right direction toward a well-rounded domestic energy supply, and new opportunities in the American workforce. But while Consumer Energy Alliance shares this vision, we see the President’s message as an inaccurate reflection of our current energy needs and the impact these resources have on our jobs and the economy. Americans need more affordable and accessible renewable energy, but not at the expense of those resources we rely on every day, and certainly not at the rate of billions of dollars in tax increases. Along with more solar power and other renewables, we should also expand access to all sources of energy – everything from offshore oil and gas to more affordable nuclear development. There is no quicker path to economic resurgence than through proper development of our abundant natural resources and the economic growth that they create.”

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

“While the American people can appreciate the President’s call for clean energy developed here at home, we need access to all sources of energy and nothing less. More widely deployed renewable power will make energy that much more abundant in the future, but it unfortunately will not address the high gasoline and diesel prices consumers face today. With offshore oil production expected to decline by over 10 percent in 2011, we can’t afford to support a comprehensive energy policy that turns its back on conventional sources of energy that we depend upon to power our cars, our trucks, our homes and our national economy.”

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