Energy & Environment

Last Friday, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rolled out sweeping new regulations to reduce the amount of sulfur in gasoline. According to EPA, these rules would be the equivalent of taking 33 million automobiles off the road. While this looks good on paper, it could have devastating effects on hardworking American families.

Should the Senate confirm him to lead the Department of Energy (DOE), Massachusetts Institute of Technology Professor Ernest Moniz will be returning to a department he knows well from service as an under secretary during the Clinton administration. He has the opportunity to transform DOE, if he is willing to reform, restructure and refocus the organization to put energy innovation at the forefront of its agenda.

Most Americans probably assume that DOE is already focused on energy innovation; in fact, it was never properly designed for that task.

On April 23 the U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments for a case in which the unspoken issue will be: Do the justices kick to Congress what would quickly become a bitterly divisive and intractable headache?

With unprecedented peacetime deficits, massively underfunded entitlements, issues of war, peace and national security, Congress’s plate of big issues is full. But another giant helping of trouble may be coming after the high court hears Tarrant Regional Water District v. Herrmann, a case that will determine the future of interstate water rights.

This week, the 2013 Pacific Energy Summit will be held in Vancouver, British Columbia, from April 2-4. The Summit provides a forum for leaders across the world to discuss and collaborate on topics revolving around energy security and climate change. This year’s theme, “Forging Trans-Pacific Cooperation for a New Energy Era,” focuses on realizing the potential for energy trade and investment between Asia and North America. As an attendee of this year’s discussion, I seek to highlight and promote the exportation of liquefied natural gas (LNG) and the subsequent transformation of the United States into a global energy hub.

President Obama rekindled the push for an Energy Security Trust during a visit to Argonne National Lab, a federal research facility just outside of Chicago. As he put it, “After years of talking about it, we’re finally poised to take control of our energy future.” The trust, which he introduced during his State of the Union address last month, would utilize revenue from oil and natural gas drilling on federal lands to fund research and development for renewable energy technologies.

How can we shield the earth from a major asteroid strike? That’s the subject of a new series of high-profile Congressional hearings, even though scientists and NASA director Charles Bolden say the risk is quite small.

Meanwhile, many members of Congress are blocking every effort to protect Americans from a far greater planet-wrecking threat that is already upon us.

Climate change is here now and it is causing serious damage by increasing the risk of droughts, killer megastorms, crippling heat waves, and dangerous flooding, according to the draft National Climate Assessment, a recent federal report produced by hundreds of scientists.

I recently spoke on a panel at the Conservative Political Action Conference on a positive, but right-of-center, approach to environmental issues – an approach to reclaim the moral and scientific high ground on environmental policies now damaging the viscera of the economy. Of the nearly two hundred panels and speakers at the event, my panel was the only item on the CPAC agenda devoted to environmental issues.

Tragically, 11 men lost their lives on April 20, 2010, when the Deepwater Horizon oil platform burst into flames. We continued to feel the tragic effects of that across southern Louisiana and the Gulf Coast as the oil flowed from the well in astounding quantities for months, and significant environmental damage and economic devastation followed.
 
Three years later, the good news is that the Gulf is rebounding physically. Mother Nature truly is an awesome, powerful — and in this case healing — force. Economically, our tourism and energy industries are also rebounding. And our Gulf seafood is as safe and delicious as ever, though some buyers outside the region don’t fully understand that.

There’s a fight for the future of American motor fuels – renewable fuels versus fossil fuels. Environmentalists shouldn’t have much trouble deciding which side they’re on.

After all, the major source of greenhouse gas emissions is fossil fuel combustion. That mostly means running cars, trucks, and other vehicles with petroleum products such as gasoline.

If you don’t want to spew more greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, there’s really only alternative fuel – ethanol. There is no other fuel available at scale today that matches ethanol’s ability to improve overall environmental quality, compared to gasoline.

During the 2012 campaign, President Obama talked often of his “all of the above” energy strategy and the desire to make science-based decisions with regard to energy and environmental policy. It is wise to incorporate the latest science and technology to pursue every energy option we have, and that includes exploring the Atlantic outer continental shelf (OCS). In order to do that, the Obama administration needs to complete the long-delayed Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) that will inform how best to proceed with a safe and environmentally protective seismic assessment of the oil and natural gas resources beneath federal waters in the Atlantic.