America is now more dependent on foreign oil than when President George W. Bush came into office, which puts national security at risk, Democratic presidential candidate Senator John Kerry charged Monday. In a speech to a Santa Fe crowd outlining his energy independence proposal, Kerry took aim at Bush's energy policy which, he said, has helped the oil industry but has squeezed families and the environment.
Families are paying 38 percent more at the pump than when the Bush administration took office, said Kerry, "hurting our economy," and the administration is "trying to exempt oil companies and gas companies from Clean Water Act requirements that limit pollution, threatening our environment."
Kerry slammed the Bush administration for soaring gas prices that have hit record levels this month. "Higher gasoline prices have cost the American consumer over $34 billion since George Bush took office," he said. "This money has gone directly from consumers pocketbooks into the hands of oil companies and oil producers, including OPEC. Over that same time, the big three American oil companies – ExxonMobil, ChevronTexaco and ConocoPhillips - made profits of $38.6 billion off American consumers."
Democratic Presidential candidate Senator John Kerry makes his case for energy independence in Santa Fe. (Photo by Sharon Farmer courtesy Kerry campaign)
“Instead of standing up for you," Kerry said, "George Bush has chosen secret meetings with the energy industry behind closed doors in the White House, where they can make their case, but there’s no one there to make yours." The Democratic challenger was referring to the meetings chaired by Vice President Dick Cheney early in 2001 that shaped the administration's National Energy Policy, which is weighted towards developing fossil fuels and nuclear power over renewable energy.
Before becoming Bush's running mate, Cheney was chairman and chief executive officer of the Texas based Halliburton Co., one of the world's largest service providers to the oil and gas industry.
The people who attended those meetings has been a closely guarded secret kept by the White House in the face of court challenges that have still not been resolved.
"Among those reportedly advising the group," said Kerry, "were former Enron Chairman Kenneth Lay and two of the company's lobbyists; Haley Barbour, a former Republican Party chairman and lobbyist for energy producers, who is now the governor of Mississippi," and "Marc Racicot, a former governor of Montana and electric industry lobbyist, who is now chairman of Bush's re-election campaign.
"Sixty-one Pioneers, each of whom pledged to raise $100,000 for Bush’s 2000 campaign, were from the energy and natural resources industry," he said. "Five of these Pioneers, including Edison Electric Institute President Thomas Kuhn, were appointed to Bush’s energy transition team."
But even with those powerful figures behind him, the President's energy legislation has been stalled in Congress, a fact that Kerry pointed out to his Santa Fe audience.
“And after four years of empty rhetoric and inaction, the Republican-controlled Congress is ending another session without passing a good energy bill for America," he said. "At the end of the day, George Bush just couldn’t get it done."
“Just like on every other issue, they’ll tell you they have an energy plan,” Kerry said. “But as usual, it’s a plan that warms the hearts of their powerful friends and leaves you out in the cold.”
But President Bush, in his record of accomplishment says that his administration "has completed, or is in the process of implementing, nearly 75 percent of the 106 recommendations" in the National Energy Policy, such as filling the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to 700 million barrels.
Contrasting his energy plan with that of his opponent, Kerry said the Bush plan exempts oil and gas companies from Clean Water Act requirements that limit pollution from construction sites. Runoff from drill pads contains toxic chemicals that pollute rivers and streams and threaten drinking water supplies.
The Bush plan also exempts new gas extraction technologies, called hydraulic fracturing, from the Safe Drinking Water Act, Kerry pointed out. Officials at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency have raised concerns that these technologies, which were invented by Halliburton, may contaminate water wells and poison aquifers.
Kerry says his energy plan "will increase fuel efficiency, lower energy prices, produce alternative and renewable sources of energy, and create new energy jobs in America, not in the Middle East."
Kerry's pledges that his energy plan would:
- create an Energy Security Conservation Trust Fund that will leverage $20 billion from existing federal oil and gas royalty revenues to develop new clean fuels and foster innovation. The fund would provide incentives to automakers to develop and consumers to purchase more fuel-efficient cars. It would help increase the use of renewable fuels, including ethanol and biodiesel, and hydrogen fuel. By 2020, Kerry has pledged that 20 percent of American fuel sources will be domestically produced alternative fuels.
President Bush has proposed tax incentives for the purchase of fuel-efficient hybrid vehicles.
The President says that his administration "launched a groundbreaking initiative" to develop technologies and infrastructure to produce, store, and distribute hydrogen for use in fuel-cell vehicles and electricity generation.
In fact, there was an extensive federal government research and development program on hydrogen and fuel cells during the Clinton administration.
- reduce energy bills. Today, American consumers are spending over $500 more for energy per year than they did during the Clinton administration. Kerry says his administration will "reign in out-of-control gas prices for families, farmers, and businesses by restoring American leadership abroad." He would simplify gasoline rules; manage the Strategic Petroleum Reserve more effectively; ensure fair competition in the energy marketplace; and help industry, schools, and homes increase energy efficiency and cut their energy bills.
- diversify sources of energy. The country’s dependence on foreign oil has increased under the Bush administration. Kerry says his administration would find new sources of natural gas; make clean coal part of the energy future; rely on nuclear power; and seek more sources of oil in America and in non-OPEC countries. Kerry has rejected exploration and production of oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
President Bush says he "has advocated funding clean coal research and increasing use of clean coal technology." He points to his advocacy of new efficiency standards for federal and state governments and consumer products; tax incentives for use of renewable sources of energy like wind and solar power.
Bush supports opening "a small area - less than one percent - of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge for oil and gas exploration." He says the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge "has the potential to provide over one million barrels of oil a day and provides access to one of the largest known reserves of natural gas in the United States." But independent analysts say the refuge contains less than six months worth of oil at current consumption rates.
Bush has proposed extending the ethanol tax credit to encourage its continued use as an alternative source of fuel. The Bush administration is laying the groundwork for a major expansion of nuclear energy, which the President calls "one of the cleanest forms of energy generation," because it produces no greenhouse gases.
But Bush's plan to dispose of the nation's 77,000 plus tons of high level nuclear waste deep under Nevada's Yucca Mountain has run into opposition from the state of Nevada and citizens' groups and would mean moving the waste by truck and rail across 43 states.
Kerry has rejected the Yucca Mountain repository, saying the science behind it is flawed, and would go back to the drawing board on permanent nuclear waste disposal.
- avoid blackouts. Kerry said his administration would address the vulnerability of America's electricity grid by enacting mandatory and enforceable reliability standards and employing new, innovative technologies to revolutionize the system.
President Bush says he too has proposed modernizing the electricity grid by reforming outdated laws, opening access to the transmission grid, establishing regional planning and coordination, and establishing mandatory reliability standards to prevent blackouts.
- create energy jobs. Kerry plans to create energy jobs in America, not in the Middle East, by providing incentives to invest in clean energy technologies and encourage job creation.
