Sane Environmental and Energy Policy

I've written somewhere before that it would be a brilliant political stroke for President Bush to come out with serious new environmental platform that is practical and pragmatic. The same with energy policy, create new goals and guidelines that will sustain our environment and ensure energy availability for the next decade.

I would recommend that Bush propose the following:

• A 100% increase in gas mileage for every vehicle manufactured in the US within five years. This would cut fuel consumption and emissions while simultaneously making the US auto market more competitive worldwide. Any vehicle that did not meet the new standard would not be sold in the US.


• Tax breaks for the petroleum industry to build at least ten new refineries coast to coast and to upgrade existing ones. We've not built a new refinery in the US in over 30-years. New refineries would be much more efficient, more environmentally friendly and provide jobs in areas that may currently be depressed like Ohio. Older refineries can be phased out or restructured and upgraded to provide specific products such as home heating oil.


• Push for more nuclear (or as Bush would say nucular) power plants to be constructed. Cut the red tape so that they could be on line quickly. France is 100% nuclear and actually export electricity to the EU nations. Modern technology allows smaller plants to generate more kilowatts. I would start in Nevada where Las Vegas is sucking up massive amounts of electricity and the government own most of the land. Lease the land to companies at a reasonable rate and build several new reactors that will supply Vegas with enough power to sustain growth. The added bonus is the Yucca Mountain nuclear repository is located in the state and opens in a few years.


• Reinstate Superfund with new rules and regulations. The amount of contaminated sites awaiting remedial action in the US is still huge, yet the onerous rules instituted by Carter in 1980 have not had the desired effect. Note that Superfund was not reauthorized the 1996 under Bill Clinton and the funds for cleanup now come from the general fund. Those funds have slowed to a trickle.


• Set a ten-year goal of finding a cleaner and efficient resource other than gasoline and diesel. We have to get off the OPEC crack pipe and quickly. The Middle East will not have quite the importance it currently does if the US reduces crude procurement dramatically. Likewise for the little commie bastard in Venezuela. Just as Kennedy set a goal to reach the moon by the end of the sixties, Bush should call industry to conduct massive R & D to develop a relatively cheap and clean fuel. Involve "Big Oil" as much as possible since they already have the infrastructure to distribute any type of fuel. They'll fight this because it's taking away profits and decimating the industry, yet if the were actively involved, the sales of alternative fuel would offset the loss of oil-based fuel sales. The need for petroleum products will not go away for at least fifty years around the world. Push hard for ten-years and allow tax credits for the research of those who show promising breakthroughs.


• A major portion of this plan would include diesel, trucks are the lifeline of America. We need to develop a cleaner burning diesel product in greater quantity to reduce the cost of the fuel. Trucking companies and independent truckers are getting squeezed now because of the high fuel costs. When constructing new refineries, dedicate two of them exclusively for diesel production and two exclusively for refining aviation jet fuel AKA Jet A.


• Landfill technology has increased in many ways over the past two decades. Upgrade existing land fills to allow the capture and use of the methane produced by the break down of organics. This is happening in some locations as we speak. Landfills produce large amounts of the flammable gas that can be routed nto the natural gas network and burned for fuel. It would cost money to build or upgrade the system but would pay huge dividends once online.

I'm not so naive as to think that the oil companies and environmentalists would grasp these proposals with open arms. You may have to drag both of them kicking and screaming to the table but the results would be for the greater good of each and for the nation as a whole.

It's well-passed the time for Republicans to reclaim their rightful place as the leaders on the environment. Scoff at that last statement but note here, my first real post on this blog in 2003, where I talk about the various major environmental laws and that most were signed by GOP Presidents.

Those who read me often know that I find the global warming theories espoused by Al Gore and his ilk to be lacking if not fraudulent. That said, for national security and health reasons, we need to take steps in the direction of sustainability. If the US took the lead on this, the business of helping other nations develop alternative power would be huge. Only the United States can propel new ideas like this forward, if we wait for someone else to do it, we would fall behind and be waiting for decades.

More on this subject here.