The Energy Crisis of 2008

In just one year, crude oil prices have soared from $65 per barrel to as high as $135. The price of gas is now $4 a gallon.

 

These runaway energy prices are punishing an economy that is already weak. Millions of small businesses and families on tight budgets are struggling.

 

How has Congress responded? In recent days, lawmakers have voted to allow lawyers to sue OPEC. They have moved legislation to raise taxes on energy producers. And the Senate is considering a climate change bill that would actually raise fuel and power prices for every American family and business.

 

Energy prices are high and headed higher because supply is not keeping up with demand. By 2030, the world will need 60% more energy than it does today. Domestic demand will increase by a third. Unless current production levels are increased, global oil demand will soon outstrip supply.

 

When will our lawmakers and politicians acknowledge that the solution to the energy crisis of 2008 is not more gimmicks--it's more production! More production of all kinds of domestic energy--coal, oil, gas, nuclear, renewables, and alternative energy, along with greater efficiency.

 

America must immediately tap more of its own vast energy resources. We have at least a 245-year supply of coal. We have 112 billion barrels of oil and at least 231 trillion cubic feet of natural gas on our lands and off our shores. We have a clean, safe nuclear energy industry that is underutilized. We have the capability to develop a new generation of clean and efficient energy alternatives, including technologies to help us use traditional sources more cleanly.

 

Yet through laws, regulations, and lawsuits, we have locked away domestic energy and tied the hands of our industries. We have not built a new oil refinery or nuclear power plant in more than 30 years. Even renewable energy projects like wind power have been delayed by "not in my backyard" opposition.

 

Our elected officials can clear away these barriers by allowing environmentally friendly domestic energy production, streamlining permitting and regulations to get projects online faster, and investing in new technologies to improve efficiency and diversify our energy mix.

 

At the same time, we can reduce our carbon footprint by employing technology, negotiating a global agreement that includes all carbon-emitting economies, and improving efficiency.

 

If we fail to increase supply while becoming more energy efficient, prices could continue to escalate, and we could soon find ourselves longing for the good old days when gas was only $4 per gallon.