President Clinton’s 21st Century Approach to America's Energy Needs

President Clinton’s 21st Century Approach to America's Energy Needs

September 23, 2000

Ensuring the availability of affordable and environmentally responsible energy is central to maintaining our unparalleled economic growth and prosperity. For more than seven years, the Clinton-Gore Administration has consistently pursued a forward-looking and balanced approach to meeting America’s energy needs in the 21st century. This strategy supports continued development of traditional energy sources, and aggressive efforts to improve energy efficiency and promote alternative energy sources.

To ease reliance on imported oil, the Administration has invested in new technologies that have significantly enhanced recovery of domestic oil reserves. To promote clean energy alternatives, the Administration has expanded research and development of solar, wind, biomass and other renewable sources. To save energy and money, the Administration has adopted new energy-efficiency standards for appliances and forged new partnerships with industry. These include Energy Star® and the Partnership for a New Generation of Vehicles (PNGV), which is on track to producing affordable vehicles that get three times the mileage of today’s models. And to demonstrate federal leadership, the President has issued Executive Orders directing federal agencies to dramatically improve the energy efficiency of their buildings and automotive fleets. To save energy and tax dollars, we have taken dramatic steps to reduce the energy use of the federal government, the larger energy user in the world, reducing energy consumption by 30 percent and saving $800 million a year.

CONGRESS HAS FAILED TO ACT TO IMPROVE AMERICA’S ENERGY SECURITY: The Republican leadership has failed to act on key elements of the President’s long-term energy policy, including: tax incentives to consumers for the purchase of energy-efficient cars, homes and appliances; comprehensive electricity restructuring; and reauthorization of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. Over the past seven years, Congress has approved only 12 percent of the increased funding proposed by the President for energy efficiency and renewable energy.

Now, the Republican leadership wants to open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil drilling – despoiling one of America’s last wild places for a short-term supply of oil. Furthermore, they continue to cut programs critical to meeting our long-term energy needs. For instance:

CONGRESS SHOULD IMMEDIATELY PASS THE FOLLOWING KEY COMPONENTS OF CLINTON/GORE ENERGY POLICY:

  1. Tax Incentives to Encourage Greater Efficiency, Renewable Energy, and Domestic Oil Production

The Administration has proposed a balanced package of tax incentives to promote responsible development of traditional energy sources, and, for three years has proposed tax incentives to promote a wide range of alternative and renewable energy sources. The President and Vice President, once again, call on Congress to enact:

  1. Investments in R&D to Improve Energy Efficiency, Make Renewable Energy Affordable, and Promote the Clean Use of Fossil Energy

Increased energy efficiency has significantly enhanced our energy security by reducing our demand for oil. In 1974, we consumed 15 barrels of oil for each $10,000 of GDP; today we only consume 8 barrels of oil per unit of GDP. But much more can be done. The President and Vice President have secured substantial increases to accelerate the research, development, and deployment of alternative and more efficient energy technologies. They call on Congress to build on these efforts by approving the following FY 2001 requests:

III. Preparation for Energy Supply Emergencies

Notwithstanding our best efforts to promote a diverse and secure supply of energy, because of the location of the world's oil reserves, the fact remains that we import a sizeable portion of the oil we consume. In order to mitigate that risk, and to address emergencies created by unusually cold or warm weather, the Administration calls on Congress to:

  1. Comprehensive Electricity Restructuring for Reliability and Savings

The President is disappointed that Congress has abandoned efforts to pass comprehensive electricity restructuring legislation. Comprehensive restructuring would lower electricity prices, clean the environment, encourage innovation and new services, and increase the reliability of our Nation's power supply grid. It will also enhance energy security by enabling us to operate our economy on less fuel. The President and Vice President’s proposed legislation, which Congress failed to enact for over two years would:

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