The Lugar Energy Initiative - Driving the Future of Energy Security
The October Energy Tour

From October 23 - 27, Senator Lugar covered more than 1,000 miles on Hoosier roads to highlight the importance of energy security. For more information about the trip, read the press release and view the photos below.


Senator Lugar's Energy Plan

Senator Lugar speaking at the Richard G. Lugar-Purdue University Summit on Energy Security.In the keynote speech at the Richard G. Lugar-Purdue University Summit on Energy Security, Senator Lugar announced his energy plan:

"To this end, the United States should adopt a national program that would make virtually every new car sold in America a flexible fuel vehicle. We should ensure that at least one quarter of filling stations in America have E85 pumps. We should expand ethanol production to 100 billion gallons a year by 2025, a figure that could be achieved by doubling output every five years. We should also create an approximate $45 per barrel price floor on oil through a variable ethanol tax credit to ensure that investments keep flowing to alternatives. And we should enact stricter vehicle mileage standards to point automobile innovation toward conservation. The plan I am proposing today would achieve the replacement of 6.5 million barrels of oil per day by volume -- the rough equivalent of one third of the oil used in America and one half of our current oil imports," he said.


Profile of a Patriot
Each month, Senator Lugar profiles a student, professional, scholar, or member of the business community who has demonstrated leadership and initiative in taking concrete action to reduce America's dependence on foreign oil. In addition to the profile posted here, individuals will receive a certificate designating them Lugar Energy Patriots, and a letter of congratulations.


Charlie Smith
CEO, Countrymark

Charlie Smith, CEO of Countrymark.At first glance, Countrymark Co-op CEO Charlie Smith makes an unlikely biodiesel advocate. The successful businessman (and son of a lifelong oilman) began his career working on Alaska’s North Slope for the Atlantic Richfield Oil Company. Later, he led the mergers and acquisitions team for Muse Stancil & Company, a leading petroleum-industry consulting firm. But just as only Nixon could go to China, perhaps it took an oilman’s rigorous analytical skills and attention to economic principles to bring biodiesel to the mass market.

When Smith joined Countrymark in 2003, he brought with him the business acumen typical of the oil industry. “The fuel industry has exacting standards for gasoline and diesel,” said Jon Lantz, Countrymark’s Vice President of Marketing, “and the bio-fuels industry needed to develop those same standards in order to convince people to use the fuel.”

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The Lugar Energy Report

The Lugar Energy Report profiles Senator Lugar’s August 2006 travel to Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Albania.

The purpose of trip was to trace the route of oil and natural gas exports in a region of the world critical to promoting international energy security.


NewProfile of a Patriot


Expert Commentary


The Venezuela Report


Fast Facts

In the U.S. there are...

* 106 Ethanol Production Facilities
* 170,000 Gas Stations
* 1,051 E85 Fuel Stations
* 230 million vehicles
* 6 million Flexible Fuel Vehicles
* 9 million Alternative Fuel Vehicles

more energy statistics


Fundamentals
The Fundamentals: Understanding the Lugar Energy Initiative. Click here to read A New Realism, The New Petroleum, Curing our Addiction to Oil, and The Existential Threats.


Please direct questions or comments about the Lugar Energy Initiative to:
energy@lugar.senate.gov

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