General James L. Jones, USMC (Ret.) - Institute for 21st Century Energy - Launch Event
6/12/07
Remarks by General James L. Jones (As Prepared)
President and CEO, U.S. Chamber of Commerce's
Institute for 21st Century Energy
Launch Event
June 12, 2007
Good morning and welcome to the inaugural event of the U.S. Chamber's Institute for 21st Century Energy. Thank you for coming. Your attendance is testament that you believe, as we do, that energy is the single most important physical resource underpinning our economic competitiveness, our national security, and our way of life.
Everyone in this room probably has their story of how they became engaged in energy matters. I have mine. It happened in 1973 while sitting in a Volkswagen in Springfield, Virginia at 4 o'clock in the morning. I was waiting in line at a gasoline station to fill up so I could drive to Quantico. Thirty-three years later, as Commander of NATO, I worried early in the mornings about how to protect energy facilities and supply chain routes as far away as Africa, the Persian Gulf, and Caspian Sea. The world has changed, but the energy issues remain much the same. Today, however, energy issues are more complex, similar to the way my worries went from ten bucks of gasoline in a Volkswagen to protection of global sea lanes.
This morning we are introducing our new Energy Institute. The materials at your places give you a sense of how far we have come in a short time in building this Institute.
We've hired a great core staff, produced our first educational product, developed a working list of future programs, and a new website is turned on for business.
I want to begin by thanking Tom Donohue, President of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, for giving me the opportunity to be here. When I retired in February after 40 years in the Marines, I wanted to stay engaged in national security and this is the best opportunity without having to go back to the Pentagon.
Energy is, in fact, one of the few challenges that span the entire spectrum of our concern. It is a matter of critical international and national security, and it is also a family issue. Individual families are feeling the effects of higher energy prices and the cost of living--they recognize it every time they fill up at the pump or pay a utility bill.
Energy, therefore, is a global, national, and local issue. It is an issue of fundamental importance to business--and it has a deep impact on the environment. It is a both a resource challenge and an infrastructure challenge. Energy is often portrayed as a problem or a threat, but we're really missing something if we don't also see energy as a tremendous opportunity for American leadership in a changing world.
Tom Donohue and the folks at the Chamber understand all this, which is why they had the vision to form this new Institute. We are all proud and excited to be part of that vision.
Our Mission The mission ahead, as I see it, is clear and compelling. The United States needs a comprehensive energy strategy that is understood, rational, and workable. This strategy must ensure our nation has an affordable, diverse, and growing supply of energy to sustain economic prosperity, create good American jobs, enhance national security, and protect the environment.
To develop such a strategy is a huge undertaking. It's a challenge to which we commit ourselves. To be successful, we must be open minded--open to new ideas, new methods, and new technology. To be open minded also means we must be inclusive and open to the ideas of all energy and environmental stakeholders. It will be only through inclusion that we'll be able to build a consensus on a comprehensive national energy strategy.
Most importantly, to be successful, we must be prepared to put the nation's interests first and foremost. Energy is a vital national security issue. Every industry, think tank, and advocacy group has its interest, but everyone is going to have to step back and look at the bigger picture.
The Institute believes that an affordable, diverse, and secure energy supply is fundamental to our security and to the expansion of economic opportunity and prosperity. We are equally convinced that this energy can be secured while making further progress in the fight for environmental quality and significant contributions to the management of climate change.
Agenda and Issues to be Addressed Our agenda for the next year is ambitious. We will conduct policy, economic, and public opinion research surrounding a broad range of energy questions. We will hold a series of meetings, hearings, fact-finding missions, and conferences in cities around the United States and overseas.
The purpose of these activities will be to educate the public and opinion. One year from today, we will produce a document that will articulate a pragmatic strategy for a national energy policy.
Among the questions and topics we will address in this strategy are:
- Energy Diversity -- What incentives and policies do we need to diversify America's energy supply in a realistic and economically viable way?
- Energy Efficiency -- How can this nation build on the progress we've made to become more energy efficient--in our homes, businesses and in transportation? Just as important--how can we help lead the developing world to cleaner and more efficient uses of energy?
- Energy Supply -- We can't lose sight of the fact that even with efficiency, our energy needs are still going to grow. How can we reasonably and responsibly increase domestic energy production? Globally, what must America do to create a more stable, efficient, and secure global energy market? What are the risks and threats worldwide, and how can we address them?
- Energy Infrastructure -- What about our power generation facilities, pipelines, refineries, power grids, and other parts of the system that deliver fuel and power to 300 million Americans 24/7? Energy infrastructure is every bit as important as energy supply. We need a plan and a consensus to modernize, expand, and protect this infrastructure.
- Energy and the Environment -- We cannot have a realistic energy strategy without addressing the environment. We recognize and understand this. Climate change will be a big part of our discussions. We need a purposeful and rational approach, not a hysterical one, to manage the risk of climate change. And it must be global in scope.
- Energy Technology -- We must also focus on the development and application of clean energy technologies at home and abroad--including nuclear power. And not just alternative sources, but technologies that allow us to continue to tap and use, in an environmentally sound manner, the tremendous reserves of oil, coal, and gas that exist here and across the globe.
- Energy Education -- Finally, we must develop and implement strategies to better inform the public and our policymakers about America's energy needs and choices. We have to change the terms of the energy debate in our country -- make it more understandable, broaden and deepen it, and elevate it with the facts. We can no longer base critical policy decisions on supposition, contradiction, and ignorance.
Underlying Principles A comprehensive energy strategy, encompassing realistic approaches in each of these areas, will put us on the road to an affordable, plentiful, diverse, and cleaner supply of energy to fuel and power a competitive American economy. And that will mean a more secure nation in a dangerous world. I can't stand here today and tell you about all the elements of the comprehensive strategy we will put forth next year. In fact, we welcome the ideas and input from each of you. But I can tell you about the underlying principles that will guide our work. Let me briefly underscore those principles:
- First, we must maintain a strong economy and boost American jobs and competitiveness by increasing the nation's energy supply from all sources--oil, gas, coal, nuclear, and alternative fuels and technologies.
- Second, we must protect our national security through the expansion of our domestic energy production. At the same time, we must achieve greater efficiency and exercise American leadership to create a more secure and stable global energy market.
- Third, we must preserve and improve the environment through greater efficiency, technology-based solutions, and sound management of global climate change.
- Fourth, we must expand the nation's fuel and power generation and delivery systems to meet the growing energy needs of American consumers and businesses.
- And fifth, we must encourage U.S. Government and private sector leadership to address global energy problems through positive international engagement and the application of American technology and innovation.
Rightly or wrongly, the United States has been seen internationally as the source of many energy-related problems, not the source of solutions. America has an exciting opportunity to lead the world to innovative solutions that would spur economic growth and clean the environment. We can be the champion of new technologies that foster greater energy efficiency, the development of viable alternatives, and cleaner and more effective methods to find, extract, and use of traditional energy sources. The Institute will provide the framework for helping to achieve these objectives.
Let me conclude by again thanking everyone for being here this morning and for sharing with us this exciting moment as we launch the Institute for 21st Century Energy. Even more importantly, thank you for your interest and your commitment to help this country face up to a challenge we have neglected for too long, a challenge that will determine our future as a nation, an economy, and a global leader.
Thank you very much.