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Energy Security: Smart Energy
Choices
We need a
smarter, cleaner energy future. Increasing energy efficiency
and production of renewable energy will improve national
security, create jobs, save consumers money and reduce
pollution.
Decreasing Oil Dependence
We cannot drill our way out of reliance
on unstable oil sources. The Persian Gulf holds 65 percent of
the world’s oil reserves, the U.S. only three percent. In
order to curb our dependence on foreign oil, we must reduce
our consumption overall.
Since cars
and light trucks account for 40 percent of all petroleum use
in the U.S., the best way to cut our dependence on oil is to
make vehicles go farther on a gallon of gas. Miles-per-gallon
(mpg) standards enacted in 1975 doubled the fuel economy of
new American cars and continue to save the United States 2.8
million barrels of oil per day. Unfortunately, fuel economy is
now at a 21 year low as auto-makers sell more SUVs and other
light trucks, which are allowed to meet lower miles-per-gallon
standards than cars.
Increasing Auto Fuel Economy Standards
A
report by the National Academy of Sciences shows that each
automaker could produce a fleet of cars and light trucks that
meets a fuel economy standard of 37 mpg within 10-15 years
using cost-effective existing technology. In 2002, the Senate
missed an opportunity to increase the fuel economy of cars and
trucks to 35 mpg by 2013. This standard would:
- Conserve one million barrels of oil each day in 2013;
this is more than 12 times the projected daily yield from
the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in the same year.
- Conserve 2.5 million barrels of oil each day by
2020—as much oil as we currently import from the Persian
Gulf.
- Save
consumers a net of $4 billion annually at the gas pump
starting in 2013, and the savings will increase as cars with
higher fuel economy replace older vehicles.
- Create
more than 40,000 jobs in the auto industry, according to an
analysis by the Union of Concerned Scientists of a slightly
higher fuel economy standard.
- Cut
global warming pollution from transportation sources by 16
percent by 2020.
Protecting The Arctic Refuge
Drilling in
sensitive areas such as the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge
would do virtually nothing to reduce America’s dependence on
foreign oil. In contrast, increasing fuel economy standards
would have far-reaching benefits for our energy
security.
- The
U.S. Geological Survey estimates that there are only six
months worth of economically recoverable oil in the Arctic
Refuge, which would not be available for at least ten
years.
- The
Arctic Refuge would reduce U.S. oil imports by only two
percent—from 64 percent to 62 percent of total oil
consumption in 2020.
- By
2017, the cumulative oil savings of a 35 mpg fuel economy
standard would be greater than the total projected yield
from the Arctic Refuge over its 50-year lifetime.
U.S. Oil Imports and Options for
Decreasing Dependence (millions of barrels of oil per
day)
Increasing Energy
Efficiency
Energy efficiency is the quickest,
cheapest, cleanest way to help improve national security, save
energy and reduce pollution. Energy efficiency means smarter
energy use, such as light bulbs that require one quarter the
energy of traditional bulbs.
Using energy wisely:
- Reduces
demand and decreases our overall dependence on fossil fuels,
including imported oil.
- Boosts
the economy. A recent study by the World Wildlife Fund and
Tellus Institute found that energy efficiency policies could
create 700,000 jobs by 2010 and 1.3 million by 2020.
- Reduces
the threat of electricity shortages. California reduced
demand for peak electricity by about 11% between June and
August 2001, helping to avert the threat of rolling
blackouts.
- Saves
consumers money. Energy efficiency policies enacted over the
past 25 years saved consumers $260 billion on their energy
bills in 2000.
- Protects the environment. Just switching to compact
fluorescent bulbs would avert 1.5 tons of global warming
pollution per household.
- Can be
implemented quickly. While it would take 5 years to build a
new coal power plant, it only takes a month to weatherize a
home.
Given these benefits and relative ease of implementing
energy efficiency policies, we should create a public benefits
trust fund that would provide matching funds to states for
energy efficiency programs.
Increasing Production Of Clean
Renewable Energy
The potential power output of wind, solar
and geothermal resources in the U.S. is many times greater
than our total electricity consumption. A national standard
increasing renewable energy sources to 20 percent of power
generation by 2020, combined with energy efficiency policies,
would benefit the country’s energy security, economy and
environment.
Building Energy Security
If we start
increasing the use of clean renewables now, by 2020 as much as
one-third of our energy could come from clean renewable
energy. This would:
- Diversify our energy sources. Currently only two
percent of our energy comes from renewable sources. However,
the wind that blows in just four states—North Dakota, South
Dakota, Kansas and Nebraska––could meet the electricity
needs of the entire country.
- Create
a more resilient and geographically dispersed national
energy system that is less dependent on large polluting
power plants. This system would be less vulnerable to
disruption by human threats or natural disasters.
- Boost
the economy. A study by the State of Wisconsin found that
increased use of clean renewable energy sources would create
a net impact of three times more jobs than that from
traditional sources of electricity.
Protecting Consumers, The Environment And Public
Health
Combined with energy efficiency policies, a clean
energy standard that required 20 percent of our energy to come
from renewable sources would:
- Save
consumers more than $70 billion by 2020 by lowering prices
for natural gas and buffering them against fuel price hikes.
- Reduce
global warming pollution from power plants by one-third.
- Reduce
smog pollution from power plants by 15 percent and
soot-forming pollution by eight percent. Each year, this
smog and soot pollution causes millions of asthma attacks
and shortens the lives of at least 30,000 Americans.