The next best source of new energy is the energy we can save every day. Immediate benefits can be realized by increasing building efficiency and appliance standards, two areas with high energy savings potential.
The next best source of new energy is the energy we can save every day. Immediate benefits can be realized by increasing building efficiency and appliance standards, two areas with high energy savings potential.
We must address the impact of our growing energy consumption on the environment and climate, while recognizing that any approach must be both economically viable and environmentally effective.
A deeper understanding of the issues and developing science associated with the environment and climate change will influence national and global energy, economic, and environmental policy choices.
Technology is the cornerstone of a new energy policy. The United States is currently spending 50% less on energy R&D than during the 1970s oil embargo. We spend less than four billion dollars a year on clean energy R&D, which is less than we spend in three days on imported oil today.
Expanding domestic production will reduce our dependence on foreign oil and natural gas and significantly reduce the billions of dollars we send abroad each year.
Nuclear power is currently an emissions-free source of 20% of America’s electricity supply, despite our not having licensed the construction of a nuclear power facility in nearly 30 years.
Currently, coal provides approximately 50% of our electricity supply, making it the largest source of domestic, reliable, and affordable energy. Coal will necessarily be a critical and expanding source for our future electricity and fuels needs.
Any effort to meet growing demand and address environmental concerns with continued economic growth requires zero and near-zero emissions power generation to be developed and deployed. This is true not only in our country, but around the world.
Transportation in the United States is currently 96% reliant on petroleum. New technologies, ready for application, must be affordable and become commonplace.
Our energy infrastructure is increasingly inadequate for our growing demand and economy. Blackouts, brownouts, service interruptions, and rationing could become commonplace without new and upgraded capacity.
Our energy industry employs well over one million people today, yet nearly half of this workforce is expected to retire in the next 10 years. Presently, American universities are graduating fewer and fewer students in science, engineering, and mathematics.
Energy infrastructure systems, including both generation and transmission, require massive amounts of new investment in the face of rising difficulty in locating, permitting, and building new infrastructure.
We live in a global energy market that requires broad-based, global solutions. This is an opportunity for America to demonstrate our leadership in innovation and solve what is not solely an American challenge, but a global one.
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