Issues: Energy

As soaring fuel costs stick Americans with big bills, oil companies continue to smash earnings records and pocket sky-high profits. Now some in Congress are offering grief disguised as relief, pushing a so-called "All of the Above" energy scheme that calls for reckless drilling and billions in subsidies to prop up the dirty energy policies of the past.

What Americans need right now are real clean energy solutions -- such as more fuel-efficient cars, renewable energy sources and better transportation choices -- that would really lower gas prices and jumpstart our economy. Giving in to the oil, coal and nuclear industries will extend our addiction to fossil fuels and make global warming worse. But it won't lower energy prices.

"All of the Above" is a big gift to Big Energy and a swift kick in the wallet to American taxpayers. Here's what the harmful proposals in Congress would do:

All of the Above: Pollution, Not Solutions

Drilling in protected places		Would despoil the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and pollute our oceans and coastlines for a tiny percentage of our energy needs -- with almost zero impact on gas prices
Oil shale development		Would pollute America's wildlife habitat, land, water and climate with devastating effects on the Rocky Mountain region
Liquid coal production		Would nearly double global warming pollution per gallon while increasing the devastation of coal mining from Appalachia to the Rockies
Nuclear energy		Would use taxpayer subsidies to prop up a polluting industry and impede global efforts to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons
Token funding for renewables and efficiency		Would marginalize clean energy technology and fail to provide a comprehensive policy for ending our oil addiction and solving global warming

The impact of these policies on pollution and global warming would be immense. Oil pumping in currently protected areas, oil shale development and liquid coal production would produce a combined 1,660 million tons of global warming pollution a year. That's more than the 1,200 million tons of annual global warming pollution currently produced by gasoline use in the United States. See this fact sheet for more details.

By continuing to pursue failed policies, the "all of the above" approach would move us backward, rather than forward toward the real solutions for our energy crisis. Clean, renewable alternatives and energy efficiency will guarantee lower energy prices, more jobs, a healthier environment and a safer nation.

Here's what Congress can do instead:

Move Forward to a Clean Energy Economy

Provide immediate relief		Repeal tax breaks for oil and gas and use the money to fund transit, provide fuel-savings vouchers, and send Americans a rebate check for the high prices they paid at the pump
Put cleaner cars on the road		Implement new fuel economy standards that make cars go farther on a gallon of gas, assist automakers in retooling their factories, and give incentives for buying fuel-efficient vehicles
Support energy alternatives		Extend federal tax incentives for renewable energy and energy-efficient buildings, while requiring providers to produce 25 percent of electricity from renewables by 2025
Give more transportation choices		Fund transit systems so that they can provide new routes and better service, while investing in subways, light rail, street cars and rapid bus transit for more American cities

Offshore drilling, oil shale, liquid coal and nuclear energy are not the answers that America needs. Renewable energy and energy efficiency are the real solutions that will deliver relief from rising energy costs, curb global warming and make our country more secure.

last revised 10/9/2008