For
the past six years, President Bush has used his State of the Union addresses to
promise energy independence. Despite his often lofty rhetoric, President
Bush has failed to deliver results. As President Bush prepares to deliver
his State of the Union Address for 2007, Democrats call on him to work with us
to transform our nation's energy
policies to reduce the risks of global warming and the threat to national
security due to our petroleum dependency.
Rhetoric from Past
State of the Union
Addresses
In his past State of the
Union addresses, President Bush has promised energy independence,
environmentally-responsible energy development, decreased dependence on oil,
and affordable energy for American consumers and businesses. He has not
followed through with meaningful action to fulfill those promises.
2001: “We can produce more energy at home while protecting
our environment, and we must. We can produce more electricity to
meet demand, and we must. We can promote alternative energy sources
and conservation, and we must. America must become more
energy-independent, and we will.” (President Bush, State of the Union Address,
2001)
2002: “Good jobs also depend on reliable and affordable
energy. This Congress must act to encourage conservation, promote
technology, build infrastructure, and it must act to increase energy production
at home so America
is less dependent on foreign oil.” (President Bush, State of the Union Address,
2002)
2003: “Our third goal is to promote energy independence for
our country, while dramatically improving the environment. I have sent
you a comprehensive energy plan to promote energy efficiency and conservation,
to develop cleaner technology, and to produce more energy at home.
Tonight I'm proposing $1.2 billion in research funding so that America can
lead the world in developing clean, hydrogen-powered automobiles.” (President
Bush, State of the Union Address, 2003)
2004: “Consumers and
businesses need reliable supplies of energy to make our economy run -- so I
urge you to pass legislation to modernize our electricity system, promote
conservation, and make America
less dependent on foreign sources of energy.” (President Bush, State of the
Union Address, 2004)
2005: “Nearly four years ago,
I submitted a comprehensive energy strategy that encourages conservation,
alternative sources, a modernized electricity grid, and more production here at
home -- including safe, clean nuclear energy. And my budget provides strong
funding for leading-edge technology -- from hydrogen-fueled cars, to clean
coal, to renewable sources such as ethanol. Four years of debate is
enough: I urge Congress to pass legislation that makes America more
secure and less dependent on foreign energy.” (President Bush, State of the
Union Address, 2005)
2006: “So tonight, I announce
the Advanced Energy Initiative -- a 22-percent increase in clean-energy
research -- at the Department of Energy, to push for breakthroughs… Our goal is
to make this new kind of ethanol practical and competitive within six years.
Breakthroughs on this and other new technologies will help us reach another
great goal: to replace more than 75 percent of our oil imports from the Middle East by 2025. By applying the talent and
technology of America,
this country can dramatically improve our environment, move beyond a
petroleum-based economy, and make our dependence on Middle Eastern oil a thing
of the past.” (President Bush, State of the Union Address, 2006)
Reality: America’s Energy Dependence and
Costs are Growing
President’s budgets have not funded alternative energy. Despite numerous pledges to do so, the President has
not dramatically increased funding to develop alternative energy sources.
Although the President touted his proposed funding increases in research and development
of solar and wind technologies last year, his budget achieves this not by
increasing overall funding but by eliminating funding for research into
improvements in two other renewable sources, geothermal and hydropower.
The “Advanced Energy Initiative” provided only a $41 million increase for
hydrogen and fuel cell technology research, a $29 million increase for biomass
research funding including cellulosic ethanol, and a $17 million cut to vehicle
technologies research. Overall, the President’s budget provides only 54
percent of the authorized funding level for renewable energy research and
development and an overall cut of $26 million to energy efficiency and
renewable energy research. (President’s Budget, FY 2007)
Imports of oil still
rising. America’s dependence on foreign oil increased from 58
percent in 2000 to 66 percent in 2005. In August 2006, imports
represented 61.5 percent of the oil consumed in the United States, 725,000 barrels per
day more than imports in August 2005. (EIA,
U.S. Weekly
Petroleum Product, 4-Week Averages)
Oil import costs
skyrocketed in 2006. Americans
spent $243 billion in 2005 on oil and petroleum product imports and will spend
about $290 billion in 2006. Americans sent about $110 billion to OPEC
countries for imports of crude oil. Petroleum will make up about one
third of the total trade deficit. (U.S.
Census Bureau, U.S.
International Trade in Goods and Servies November 2006, Exhibit 17 and
Supplement Exhibit 3, 1/10/07)
Oil company profits set records. Even as Americans face higher and higher
energy prices, the top five oil companies reported a record $111 billion profit
in 2005. With $92 billion reported for the first nine months of 2006,
they are on track to break their record in 2006. At the same time, oil
companies have not increased their capital investment and exploration budgets
at nearly the rate their cash on hand has increased since 2001. (Based on
ExxonMobil, Shell, BP, ChevronTexaco, and ConocoPhillips company financial
reports; Congressional Research Service, 7/5/06)
Heating
costs have increased 64 percent. The average household will spend $902 for heating this winter, an
increase of $351 or 64 percent since the winter of 2001-2002. Many
Americans face much larger cost increases. The 32 percent of Northeastern
households that use heating oil have seen heating costs rise by 105 percent,
and the 79 percent of Midwestern households using natural gas are paying 95
percent more for heat. (Short Term Energy Outlook, 1/9/07)
Gasoline
prices this summer averaged $2.84. Prices at the gas pump jumped 86 percent from $1.53 per gallon in the
summer of 2001 to $2.84 this summer, and national prices were at least $3.00
per gallon for four weeks. The average household with children will spend
about $3,687 on transportation fuel costs this year, an increase of 94 percent
or $1,784 over 2001 costs. (Energy Information Administration, Short Term
Energy Outlook, 1/9/07; Household Vehicle Energy Use: Latest Data
and Trends, 11/05)
Electricity costs up 7 percent in the last year. The Administration estimates that electricity prices
for 2006 were seven percent higher than 2005. They are 20 percent higher
than costs in 2001. (EIA Short Term Energy Outlook, 1/9/07)
Global Warming is Accelerating
2006 was the warmest year on record. The National Climactic Data Center announced that
2006 was the warmest year on record in the continental United States, a full
2.2 degrees Fahrenheit above the average national temperature during the 20th
century. The past nine years have all been among the warmest 25 years on
record for the continental United States. (Washington Post, 1/10/07)
Carbon dioxide concentration is building to dangerous levels. Annual U.S. emissions of carbon dioxide have
increased by 354 million tons since 2001. Analysis of ice cores
show that current atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide—380 parts per
million—are 27 percent higher than the highest levels found in the last 650,000
years. Concentrations are likely higher now than at any time during the
past 20 million years. (Scientific American 11/28/05; IPCC 2001)
Oceans acidifying. A NOAA study released in April 2006 confirmed studies
conducted in the 1990s showing that rising temperatures are increasing the
daily uptake of carbon dioxide by oceans and changing the acidity of
seawater, leading to “major negative impacts” on corals and
other marine life. NOAA researchers say ocean chemistry is changing
at least 100 times more rapidly than it has during the 650,000 years preceding the
industrial era. At current levels of carbon dioxide emissions, NOAA
computer models project that surface ocean pH would be lower at the end of
this century than it has been for more than 20 million years. (NOAA Testimony
before the Senate Commerce Committee, 4/26/06; NSF, NOAA, and USGS, Impacts
of Ocean Acidification on Coral Reefs and Other Marine Calcifier,s 6/06;
NOAA Impacts of Anthropogenic CO2 on Ocean Chemistry and Biology,
10/6/05)
Arctic permanent ice cap melting at an “alarming” rate. “The maximum amount of sea ice in the Arctic winter
has fallen by six percent over each of the last two winters, as compared to a
loss of merely 1.5 percent per decade on average annually since the earliest
satellite monitoring in 1979. ‘This amount of Arctic sea ice reduction
the past two consecutive winters has not taken place before during the 27 years
satellite data has been available,’ said Joey Comiso, a research scientist at
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md. ‘In the past, sea ice
reduction in winter was significantly lower per decade compared to summer sea
ice retreat. What’s remarkable is that we’ve witnessed sea ice reduction
at six percent per year over just the last two winters, most likely a result of
warming due to greenhouse gases.’” (NASA Press Release, 9/13/06)
Polar bear listed as threatened. The Administration proposed listing the polar bear as
a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act in December
2006. Rising temperatures in the Arctic are shrinking the sea ice that
polar bears need for hunting. Areas around the poles are warming twice as
fast as the rest of the globe. (Washington Post, 12/27/06)
Economic impacts of climate change more costly than prevention. According to a review by former World Bank economist
Nicholas Stern, the costs of dealing with the impacts of a changing climate
could cost 20 percent of the world’s GDP. Effects of climate change could
include falling crop yields in developing countries, significant decreases in
water availability in many areas, rising sea levels, and more frequent and
intense extreme weather events, all leading to population dislocation.
The review found that investment of one percent of the world’s GDP annually could
eventually stabilize greenhouse gas concentrations. (Stern Review, 10/30/06)
President Bush Should Join Democrats in Working for
Energy Independence and Security
Democrats have a strategy to
make America more energy independent and secure by the year 2020. With S.
6, the National Energy and Environmental Security Act, as our
starting vision, we will work to pass legislation that will enhance
America's security by reducing the nation's dependence on foreign and
unsustainable energy sources and the risks of global warming by requiring
reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, by diversifying and expanding our use
of secure, efficient, and environmentally friendly energy supplies and
technologies, by repealing tax giveaways to big energy companies, by reducing
the burdens on consumers of rising energy prices, and by preventing energy
price gouging, profiteering and market manipulation.
Yesterday, Majority Leader
Reid, Commerce Committee Chairman Daniel Inouye, Finance Committee Chairman Max
Baucus, Energy Committee Chairman Jeff Bingaman, Agriculture Committee Chairman
Tom Harkin, Homeland and Government Affairs Committee Chairman Joe Lieberman,
and Environment and Public Works Committee Chairman Barbara Boxer announced
that their Committees would begin working right away on new legislation to
begin to deliver results for the American people. The new Democratic
Congress is committed to changing course, delivering results, and taking
America in a new direction.