Spencer Abraham on Energy & Oil Former Secretary of Energy & Former Republican Senator (MI)

2003 FutureGen initiative: coal with carbon capture

The project was groundbreaking: get ten or so of the biggest oil and power companies together in a joint venture, provide a billion dollars of federal aid, and charge the companies--known as the FutureGen Alliance--with creating a coal-fired power plant that gives off almost no pollution or greenhouse gases. This would involve developing "carbon capture" technology: trapping carbon dioxide emissions underground so they don't contribute to the greenhouse effect.

The Bush White House announced the FutureGen initiative in 2003. The following year, Energy Secretary Spence Abraham pumped up congressional support and a minority investment from corporate partners.

Voted YES on preserving budget for ANWR oil drilling.

Voted NO on ending discussion of CAFE fuel efficiency standards.

Voted YES on defunding renewable and solar energy.

Voted YES on approving a nuclear waste repository.

Member of Bush’s National Energy Policy Development Group.

The National Energy Policy Development (NEPD) Group was directed by President Bush to “develop a national energy policy designed to… promote dependable, affordable, and environmentally sound production and distribution of energy for the future.”The National Energy Policy we propose follows three basic principles:
1. The Policy is a long-term, comprehensive strategy. Our energy crisis has been years in the making, and will take years to put fully behind us.
2. The Policy will advance new, environmentally friendly technologies to increase energy supplies and encourage cleaner, more efficient energy use.
3. The Policy seeks to raise the living standards of the American people, recognizing that to do so our country must fully integrate its energy, environmental, and economic policies.

Applying these principles, we urge action to meet five specific national goals.
1. Modernize conservation: The best way of meeting this goal is to increase energy efficiency by applying new technology—raising productivity, reducing waste, and trimming costs.
2. Modernize our energy infrastructure: To reduce the incidents of electricity blackouts, we must greatly enhance our ability to transmit electric power between geographic regions.
3. Increase energy supplies: A primary goal is to add supply from diverse sources: domestic oil and gas via high-tech drilling; clean coal research; hydropower and nuclear power.
4. Accelerate the protection and improvement of the environment: We do not accept the false choice between environmental protection and energy production. An integrated approach to policy can yield a cleaner environment, a stronger economy, and a sufficient supply of energy for our future.
5. Increase our nation ’s energy security: We must prepare our nation for supply emergencies, and assist low-income Americans who are most vulnerable in times of supply disruption.

Tax credits & more funding for renewable energy research.

The National Energy Policy builds on our nation’s successful track record and will promote further improvements in the productive and efficient use of energy. This report includes recommendations to:
• Direct federal agencies to take appropriate actions to responsibly conserve energy use at their facilities, especially during periods of peak demand in regions where electricity shortages are possible, and to report to the President on actions taken.
• Increase funding for renewable energy and energy efficiency research and development programs that are performance-based and cost-shared.
• Create an income tax credit for the purchase of hybrid and fuel cell vehicles to promote fuel-efficient vehicles.
• Extend the Department of Energy’s “Energy Star ” efficiency program to include schools, retail buildings, health care facilities, and homes and extend the “Energy Star ” labeling program to additional products and appliances.
• Fund the federal government ’s Intelligent Transportation Systems program, the fuel cell powered transit bus program, and the Clean Buses program.
• Provide a tax incentive and streamline permitting to accelerate the development of clean Combined Heat and Power technology.
• Direct the Secretary of Transportation to review and provide recommendations on establishing Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE)standards with due consideration to the National Academy of Sciences study of CAFE standards to be released in July, 2001.

Open small fraction of ANWR for regulated production .

Our policy will increase and diversify our nation’s sources of traditional and alternative fuels in order to furnish families and businesses with reliable and affordable energy, to enhance national security, and to improve the environment. This report includes recommendations to:
• Issue an Executive Order directing all federal agencies to include in any regulatory action that could significantly and adversely affect energy supplies a detailed statement on the energy impact of the proposed action.
• Open a small fraction of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to environmentally regulated exploration and production using leading-edge technology. Examine the potential for the regulated increase in oil and natural gas development on other federal lands.
• Earmark $1. 2 billion of bid bonuses from the environmentally responsible leasing of ANWR to fund research into alternative and renewable energy resources – including wind, solar, biomass, and geothermal.
• Enact legislation to expand existing alternative fuels tax incentives to include landfills that capture methane gas emissions for electricity generation and to electricity produced from wind and biomass. Extend the number of eligible biomass sources to include forest-related sources, agricultural sources, and certain urban sources.
• Provide $2 billion over 10 years to fund clean coal technology research and a new credit for electricity produced from biomass co-fired with coal.
• Direct federal agencies to streamline the hydropower relicensing process with proper regard given to environmental factors.
• Provide for the safe expansion of nuclear energy by establishing a national repository for nuclear waste, and by streamlining the licensing of nuclear power plants.

Long-term energy stability avoids high-polluting emergencies.

We are all aware of past excesses in our use of the natural world and its resources. No one wishes to see them repeated. In the 21st century, the ethic of good stewardship is well established in American life and law. We do not accept the false choice between environmental protection and energy production. America is using more, and polluting less. The primary reason for that has been steady advances in the technology of locating, producing, and using energy.

One of the factors harming the environment today is the very lack of a comprehensive, long-term national energy policy. States confronting blackouts must take desperate measures, often at the expense of environmental standards, requesting waivers of environmental rules, and delaying the implementation of anti-pollution efforts. Shortfalls in electricity generating capacity and shortsighted policies have blocked construction of new, cleaner plants, leaving no choice but to rely on older, inefficient plants to meet demand. The increased use of emergency power sources, such as diesel generators, results in greater air pollution.

The National Energy Policy will build upon our nation ’s successful track record and will promote further improvements in the productive and efficient use of energy. This report includes recommendations to:
• Enact “multi-pollutant” legislation to establish a flexible, market-based program to significantly reduce and cap emissions of sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, and mercury from electric power generators.
• Increase exports of environmentally friendly, market-ready US technologies that generate a clean environment and increase energy efficiency.
• Establish a new “Royalties Conservation Fund ” and earmark royalties from new, clean oil and gas exploration in ANWR to fund land conservation efforts.
• Implement new guidelines to reduce truck idling emissions at truck stops.