Gang of 10 Plan a Non-Starter

August 2, 2008
A bi-partisan group of senators known as the Gang of 10 released their plan for resolving the energy crisis yesterday as Congress was adjourning for their August break.  The plan, which they refer to as the comprehensive New Energy Reform Act of 2008, or New Era, does not even meet the most basic requirements necessary to call it comprehensive.  It falls far short of what is needed and it should be considered a non-starter that is not even close enough to be a starting point for discussions.

According to Senator Conrad (D-ND), the leader of the group, the New Era bill contains three main components:

The description is accurate.  The plan, expected to cost over $84 billion, mainly focuses transitioning the transportation fleet to non-petroleum based fuels.  The main goal is to have 85% of the new vehicles manufactured in 20 years be powered by alternative fuels.  The next priority is conservation, of which much of the effort is also dedicated to transportation and alternative fuels.  Domestic production consists of opening up some additional acreage in the eastern Gulf of Mexico, giving southeastern coastal states the option of allowing drilling more than 50 miles from their shores, some incentives for increasing production at existing oil wells by injecting CO2 into them, some incentives for Coal-to-Liquids plants, and some minor incentives for nuclear power.

The Gang of 10 Plan offers nothing in the way of immediate relief at the pump, it ignores ANWR and oil shale, it does nothing about refining capacity or ethanol mandates and too little regarding bio-fuels in general, it does almost nothing for nuclear, nothing for clean coal power plants, and it does not push for complete energy independence.  By our back of the envelope calculations, in the absolute best case scenario, the plan would only cut our imported oil requirements by 10% - 20% at the end of 20 years.  That is not a solution and it is not sufficient.

What we need in order to start a real debate is a truly comprehensive plan that addresses all of the issues.  A plan that is geared toward actually achieving energy independence within 10 - 15 years instead of just continuing to use band-aids on failed policies when tourniquets are required. Misguided hope that some breakthrough will occur before things get even worse is not going to solve our problems.  Spending 7.5 billion on researching battery technology or another 7.5 billion helping the auto industry re-tool is not going to solve our problems.  What we need are policies and a plan that lead to true American energy independence and the Gang of 10 Plan does not even come close.

YourVoiceMatters.org considers the Gang of 10 Plan dead on arrival.  If you agree, please help support the cause by letting your elected representatives know how you feel.