Investor's Business Daily, March 5th, 2007
Energy: The new Democrat-led Congress can, with a few bold strokes, help win the war on terror while slashing America's dependence on foreign energy. Will it have the vision and courage to do so?
As the world economy slows, oil prices could weaken. And strange as it seems, this may present us with an opportunity to hammer the price of crude and put the screws to regimes that fund terrorism and threaten economic chaos.
Democrats have a chance to show they can make tough national decisions -- including some unpopular with their own constituents -- and put America's well-being before politics. But will they?
As the chart shows, we've become increasingly dependent on foreign oil. There are many free-market reasons for not interfering in energy markets, but there also are security reasons why we must.
Today, hundreds of billions of dollars flow into sheikh and mullah coffers -- money that then shows up in terrorist accounts, helping to kill U.S. troops. All because we use so much oil.
Iran benefits handsomely, taking in $150 million each day from the 2.5 million barrels it exports. It uses that money to fund Hezbollah, Hamas, the Mahdi Militia and al-Qaida while its own people scrap for food.
We could deal Iran, Saudi Arabia, Russia and Venezuela a crippling blow by pushing crude from its current $60 a barrel to $40. We use a third of the world's crude. If we acted to both cut that demand here and increase our own supply, it could do the trick. Here's how:
Build more nuclear plants. Democrats always talk about emulating Europe. How about France? Stung by rising oil costs in the 1970s, it now gets 70% of its energy from safe, efficient nuclear sources. We get 12%. We should shoot for at least half.
Drill for more oil. We use 21 million barrels a day, but we produce only a third of it, making us vulnerable to economic blackmail. We have "proven" reserves of just 30 billion barrels of oil, but another 150 billion await offshore, in Alaska and in non-conventional sources, such as oil shale and tar sands.
Make cars less wasteful. New technologies -- from current hybrids to future fuel cells -- will make cars a third more efficient. Heck, just inflating our tires to proper pressure would save 1.2 billion gallons of gas a year. We need incentives for Detroit and its customers to make the U.S. auto fleet the most efficient on earth.
More alternatives. Sure, some won't work. But some will -- and do. Solar, biomass, wind -- there are any number of possibilities. Today, we get only 9% of our total energy from renewables. We can boost that significantly through the tax code and R&D.
To repeat: Democrats have a unique opportunity to make a major contribution to America and its future. If they don't seize it, they don't deserve to keep the advantage they now have in Congress.
Copyright 2007 Investor's Business Daily, Inc.
