Energizing Christmas Dreams and New Year’s Hopes
Monday, December 19, 2011 at 10:38PM Over the past two weeks, as I respond to social media comments on the Keystone XL Pipeline, I have responded with three key points about the importance of North American energy.
Energy is critical to our economies and it is true in three ways: First there are the direct and indirect jobs created by the development of energy. When I use energy, I am talking about the range of alternatives: from fossil fuels to renewables. I support the development of wind and solar because as we move into the future they will become more a part of the energy portfolio of the Americas and like oil and gas create jobs. The current reality is that we rely heavily on oil and gas as energy sources in the Americas.
That leads me to the second point, that of cost. The cost of energy affects the cost of every other good that is bought and sold. Increased energy costs certainly affect the manufacturing sector in the Americas. Increasing energy costs affects jobs and the economy of the Americas.
Some comment that the role of the Keystone XL Pipeline in the products distribution network being moot because it is for export, I might add a third point: energy security. Where the oil and gas energy comes from is important to me. The environmental and political cost of importing oil from the Middle East is much larger than domestic production. The point is: which is more environmentally and politically acceptable? Domestic production or Middle Eastern production? We are using the resource. Even if it currently goes to export does not change the affect it has on energy security. The real question is one of reliance. Having access to northern oil makes us less reliant on Middle Eastern and other countries who are not our allies on the world stage. With less reliance on those countries, other political decisions are not affected by the oil we use to move the economy.
What the United States needs is a national energy policy that balances environmental, costs and regulation in such a way as businesses are given a clear picture of the future availability and cost of energy. Such a policy would be equally beneficial to oil and gas producers, renewable producers, manufacturers and consumers. Right now the playing field is a moving target that bad for all four.
My two front teeth are adequate … I hope and dream that we have adequate energy resources into the future that make North America competitive.
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