Interior Secretary Under Fire Over Obama Energy Policy

By Adrianna McGinley

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar faced tough scrutiny by members of the House Natural Resources Committee regarding the Obama administration’s energy policy.

Republican members of the committee cited the lengthy process oil companies go through to lease and develop land in order be able to produce oil, saying the record high levels of domestic oil production could not possibly be the result of Obama administration policy.

Rep. Raul Labrador (R-Idaho) criticized Salazar and the entire Obama administration for “taking credit” for current oil production success.

“That just doesn’t make any sense to me,” Labrador said. “If it takes more than two or three years to get from lease to production and we have the highest production right now, isn’t it true…that this is based on actions from the previous administration?”

Members of the committee also blasted the administration for proposing more federal regulation of the hydrofracking method of energy production and for delaying a decision on the Keystone XL pipeline.

“What we’re now watching is the administration systematically shutting off our future oil development,” said Rep. Tom McClintock (R-Calif.).

Rep. John Fleming (R-La.) defended hydrofracking saying it is a method that has worked safely for decades and concerns are unfounded. The Congressman blasted Salazar for not being able to answer “basic” technical questions regarding hydrofracking concerns.

“These are very simple questions…If the very top level doesn’t know the very basics of the technology, why is it that you somehow feel you can insinuate yourself into the process.”

Committee Ranking Member Edward Markey (D-Mass.) defended the administration, saying rather it is Republicans who are holding back domestic energy production.

“It is the Republican Majority that is protecting the billions of dollars we could retrieve from making oil and gas companies pay their fair share for drilling on our public lands. It is the Republican Majority that has opposed Democratic efforts to close free drilling loopholes, and end unnecessary tax breaks…Congressional Republicans are making our debt negotiations look worse than the NBA lockout.”

After several heated confrontations with members of the committee, the Interior Secretary told reporters that he stands by his testimony and the administration.

“From day one the president and I have worked on developing a comprehensive energy program for the nation. It’s a broad portfolio and we’re making significant progress on all fronts,” Salazar said. “With respect to the heated exchange…it’s the political season and I understand it and a member of Congress wants to score a point back home and so it’s to be expected.”

Pelosi: It's Been A Good Week

By Courtney Ann Jackson

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) didn’t fly solo at her weekly press conference held Friday. She was joined by House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.), U.S. Rep. Xavier Becerra (D-Calif.) and U.S. Rep, Christopher Van Hollen (D-Md.). Pelosi said they decided to combine her weekly press conference with “wrap-up” for the first five months. She said many times that this has been a “good week.”

“It was a good week on the energy policy. It’s also been a good week as week protect the environment; a good week as we protect the consumer, the tax payer and the American people, in general, in terms of their national security, ” said Pelosi.

Pelosi also said that legislation on issues such as housing, credit cards and saving the tax payers money were passed during the week that all “protect the consumer.”

Hoyer said the 111th Congress has made “tremendous strides to create jobs and get the economy back on track.” He closed by saying that he and Pelosi considered themselves to be a “close team” that is carrying out the promise of change that the “American people voted for.”

Although Pelosi and the other Democratic leaders wanted to discuss the new direction that the administration is taking with the main topics being energy and the economy, she was still asked a question involving the CIA issue. Hoyer attempted to pull Pelosi away from the podium as the question was being asked but she instead insisted on hearing the question.

Pelosi’s response was, “I have made the statement I’m going to make on this. I don’t have anything more to say about it. I stand by my comment.”

She said she would not let the issue distract her and would rather continue on the course of bipartisanship and bettering issues like jobs and health care instead.

Democratic superstars rally to save planet

On Monday morning Al Gore said that it is an “objective fact” that the U.S. is the only nation which can lead the world when a severe crisis looms on the horizon, and that we as a responsibility to future generations to act. Gore spoke at a forum held by The Center for American Progress Action Fund, which discussed how a green approach to infrastructure and energy production can both create jobs and provide for long lasting stability in supply. Gore’s emphasis was on addressing the issue of global warming.

Among the panelists in the forum were Democratic heavyweights from past and present, including Former President Bill Clinton, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.
Gore emphasized the importance of reducing gas emissions and dependence on foreign oil, but also spoke on energy infrastructure, a topic which turned out to be the backbone of the forum.

Energy infrastructure refers to the methods whereby energy generated in one location is transported to the rest of the nation. For instance, if the Southwest generates a certain amount of energy in solar power, but doesn’t use all of that energy locally, the rest of it can be distributed to other areas in the nation.
The panelists placed great importance on sound energy infrastructure in the form of a nationwide grid. Pelosi said it was an “essential” element, and without it renewable energy would mean very little to the general national welfare. Pelosi went on to liken it to the interstate highway system, in that it is a program which the federal government should undertake in a uniform way for the expanded welfare of the country. Harry Reid spoke to similar effect.

Robert Kennedy, Jr., Chairman of the Waterkeeper Alliance, said that once the infrastructure is in place, the “energy is free forever”. On that topic, Senator Byron Dorgan (D-ND) said that somewhere in the United States the sun is always shining or the wind is always blowing, and that this method for appropriating energy was truly sustainable. Energy Secretary Steven Chu and Interior Secretary Ken Salazar also voiced support of a unified energy grid.

By Michael Ruhl, University of New Mexico - Talk Radio News Service

Six energy challenges await next Congress

While Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.), Chairman of the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, acknowledges that recent energy legislation has led to reductions in imported oil and emissions, the Senator contends that the achievements are relatively modest compared to the steps that need to be taken to secure the United States' energy future and provide environmental protection. To meet the remaining needs, Bingaman listed six challenges that the new Congress will need to confront: deploying clean energy technology, improving energy efficiency, maintaining adequate supplies of conventional fuels, increasing energy innovation, making energy markets more transparent, and maintaining a balance between energy and environmental policies.

Regarding the establishment of clean energy technologies, Bingaman described the need for improvement in the electricity sector. "A national renewable electricity standard will enhance the diversity of our domestic electricity generation and it will position the United States to regain the world technology lead in these areas and start preparing our electricity sector for the inevitable requirements to reduce greenhouse gas emissions."

In order to address the challenge of improving energy efficiency, the U.S. would need to take an approach that would include the transportation, building, and industrial sectors. According to Bingaman, efficiency could be improved in these sectors by providing incentives for consumers to purchase more fuel efficient cars, adopting modern energy saving building codes, and reducing the industrial sector's energy intensity.

The Senator pressed for the importance of maintaining an adequate supply of conventional energy, noting that while the goal of energy policy is to move away from the use of fossil fuels, the transition will take time and policy needs to be in place to secure energy supplies in the meantime.

Bingaman said that an increase in energy innovation could be achieved by providing more funding for research. "Our investments in these areas have been totally inadequate for the past decade. We need to boost these levels substantially...One of our challenges in the next congress and for the new administration is to see how we can set up an entity that focuses on protoyping transformative energy technologies that fall between the institutional cracks in the system."

In regard to the fifth challenge, BIngaman discussed how the fluctuation in energy prices essentially happens outside the view of the public. "We clearly need better data and better oversight of these new market players and forces if we want energy markets to function effectively in the future," said Bingaman.

He concluded by noting that in environmental terms there is a need for an immediate energy revolution and for the creation of a regulatory regime to spearhead the effort to balance energy policy and environmental policy.