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Sunday, August 25, 2002 Energy strategy approval imperative By Charles W.
Stenholm
Increasing domestic energy supplies and enhancing our energy infrastructure are the critical components of a comprehensive, forward-looking, market-based national energy strategy. One part of that equation is a boost to research and development in new energy technologies. Technology transforms how we live and work in so many areas and it has revolutionized the oil and natural gas industry. Technology helps the U.S. industry reliably supply more than 280 million Americans in the world’s biggest economy with the largest portion of the energy required for their homes, businesses, and highly mobile lifestyles. Not only have technological innovations dramatically altered the scale, complexity and sophistication of oil and gas operations, allowing for offshore exploration and production of oil and gas up to nearly two miles beneath the water’s surface, but also the environmental imprint from operations has been substantially reduced. In recent decades, new technologies have been key to finding and extracting recoverable oil and gas resources – located in deeper and more remote locations, in more challenging geologic formations, in more difficult terrain, in smaller pockets, under sensitive wetlands, in ice covered tundra and far out at sea. By maintaining federal funding in research and development either at high-end research labs or as a supplement to venture capitalism, we could significantly help bring new initiatives along like we have seen in the past with horizontal drilling, new methods to plug wellheads, and improved drill bits. Our nation has come to expect the benefits of fossil-based fuels and products, but also a cleaner environment. Ongoing research and development will be the lead force in continuing to protect the environment during exploration and production. During the past three decades, the United States has become more dependent on energy, and, on foreign energy in particular. This trend is not the product of Democratic or Republican actions or inactions alone; nor can it be corrected in a partisan way. Both the federal tax code and regulatory policy could provide a means to maximize efforts to discover and produce reliable energy resources, including oil and natural gas as well as alternative sources such as nuclear energy. For example, mechanisms that I have introduced in the past, such as a marginal well tax credit, would help provide a short-term solution and would help to infuse our domestic energy sector. To help accomplish America’s economic, energy and national security objectives, we need a comprehensive energy strategy in place. As part of the House/Senate conference on the comprehensive energy bill currently being considered by Congress, I will work toward a compromise that provides for greater use of all domestic energy resources, promotes conservation and efficiency, provides access to capital and the resource base, maintains fuel diversity, encourages development of advanced energy technologies and improves the nation’s energy infrastructure. This is too important an issue not to resolve this year. Charles Stenholm (D) is U.S. Congressman for the 17th District.
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Now
more than ever, our nation is confronting a potential energy challenge
that threatens the productivity of the oil and gas industry as
well as the quality of life of our nation’s citizens. As
with an ample supply of quality food, most Americans take for
granted that our energy supply will always meet the demands of
our lifestyle. In reality, Americans must learn that our economic
prosperity and national security depend a great deal on the availability
of reliable, affordable energy.|
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E.W. Scripps Publications