US Energy Strategy doubts

A week ago, President Obama visited Cargenie Mellon University in Pittsburg. In hisspeech, he also discussed the energy future of the US. We don't want to withhold you some interesting extracts:

Now, this brings me to an issue that’s on everybody’s minds right now -- namely, what kind of energy future can ensure ourlong-term prosperity.

We also have to acknowledge that an America runsolely on fossil fuels should not be the visionwe have for our children and our grandchildren.

However, the US have a long way to go, looking at their immense oil dependence. Action is needed. Security of supply and oil dependance are influencing the energy policy much more than concerns about the environment. It's what makes oil a national security issue.

We consumemore than 20 percentof the world’s oil, but haveless than 2 percentof the world’s oil reserves. So without a major change in our energy policy, ourdependenceon oil means that we will continue to send billions of dollars of our hard-earned wealth to other countries every month -- including countries in dangerous and unstable regions. In other words, our continued dependence on fossil fuels will jeopardize ournational security. It will smother our planet. And it will continue to put our economy and our environment at risk.

This security of supply and the search for domestic oil sources is the main reason why offshore drilling is supported by the US government. More than 3500 oil drilling platforms can be found in the Gulf of Mexico, good for one third of the national oil production. No way that this oil drilling will stop, since the strategic importance of these reserves is immense.

Now, I understand that we can’t end our dependence on fossil fuels overnight. That’s why I supported a careful plan ofoffshore oil productionas one part of our overall energy strategy. But we can pursue such production only if it’s safe, and only if it’s used as a short-term solution while we transition to a clean energy economy.

So, time for an energy transition. How can this be done? Apparently energy efficiency, nuclear power and research are key words. What about the roll-out of renewable energy units, I wonder?

Now, that means continuing our unprecedented effort to make everything from our homes and businesses to our cars and trucks moreenergy-efficient. It means tapping into our natural gas reserves, and moving ahead with our plan to expand our nation’s fleet ofnuclearpower plants. It means rolling back billions of dollars of tax breaks to oil companies so we can prioritize investments inclean energy research and development.

CO2 emission cuts and putting a price on those emissions is a difficult topic in the US.

But the only way the transition to clean energy will ultimately succeed is if the private sector is fully invested in this future -- if capital comes off the sidelines and the ingenuity of our entrepreneurs is unleashed. And the only way to do that is by finally putting aprice on carbon pollution.

Many businesses have already embraced this idea because it provides a level of certainty about the future. And for those that face transition costs, we can help them adjust. But if we refuse to take into account thefull costs of our fossil fuel addiction-- if we don’t factor in the environmental costs and the national security costs and the true economic costs -- we will have missed our best chance to seize a clean energy future.

These CO2 cuts are included in the Clean Energy Act. However, to pass this act through the Senate, a battle has to be won. Since may soldiers are still recovering from the Health Care war, it's not over yet...

The House of Representatives has already passed a comprehensive energy and climate bill, and there is currently a plan in theSenate-- a plan that was developed with ideas from Democrats and Republicans -- that would achieve the same goal. And, Pittsburgh, I want you to know, the votes may not be there right now, but I intend to find them in the coming months. I will continue to make the case for a clean energy future wherever and whenever I can. I will work with anyone to get this done -- and we will get it done.

Last but not least: research and development.

The next generation will not be held hostage to energy sources from the last century. We are not going to move backwards. We are going to move forward.

This overarching principle -- that we mustinvest in and embrace the innovation and technology of the future and not the past-- that applies beyond our energy policy. That’s why we’ve decided to devote more than 3 percent of our GDP to research and development -- to spur the discovery of services and products and businesses that we have yet to imagine.

Conclusion