Don Siegelman on Energy & Oil Former Democratic AL Governor

Voluntary partnerships reduce greenhouse gases economically.

Considering the evidence and the risks of both overreaction and underreaction, the Governors recommend that the federal government continue its climate research, including regional climate research, to improve scientific understanding of global climate change. The Governors also recommend taking steps that are cost-effective and offer other social and economic benefits beyond reducing greenhouse gas emissions. In particular, the Governors support voluntary partnerships to reduce greenhouse gas emissions while achieving other economic and environmental goals.
• The Governors are committed to working in partnership with the federal government, businesses, environmental groups, and others to develop and implement voluntary programs that reduce greenhouse gas emissions in conjunction with conserving energy, protecting the environment, and strengthening the economy.
• The Governors urge that those who have successfully achieved reductions of greenhouse emissions receive appropriate credit for their early actions. The Governors strongly encourage these kinds of voluntary efforts.
• The Governors believe that federally required implementation of any treaty provisions, including those that mandate limits or reductions of greenhouse gas emissions, must not occur before the U.S. Senate ratifies an international agreement and Congress passes enabling legislation.
• The Governors support continued federal funding for research and development technology in this area. They also believe it is essential to engage the private sector by fostering technology partnerships between industry and government. Public-private partnerships serve to achieve desired environmental goals, speed the introduction of new technologies to the marketplace, and meet consumer needs and product affordability goals, while avoiding market distortions and job losses.

Kyoto Treaty must include reductions by all countries.

The Governors recommend that the federal government continue to seek the advice of state and local officials and nongovernmental organizations with expertise in economic, trade, jobs, public health, and environmental issues and assess the potential economic and environmental consequences of proposed policies and measures, including a thorough and broadly accepted analysis of costs and benefits. The Governors recommend that the US:
• not sign or ratify any agreement that mandates new commitments to limit or reduce greenhouse gas emissions for the US, unless such an agreement mandates new specific scheduled commitments to limit or reduce greenhouse gas emissions for developing countries within the same compliance period;
• aggressively undertake strategies for including emissions-reduction commitments from developing countries;
• not sign or ratify any agreement that would result in serious harm to the US economy;
• support flexible policies and measures in continuing negotiations that provide an opportunity for the US to meet global environmental goals without jeopardizing US jobs, trade, or economic competitiveness;
• insist on flexible implementation timetables in continuing negotiations that permit affected parties adequate time to plan strategies for meeting commitments; and
• ensure that no single sector, state, or nation is disproportionately disadvantaged by the implementation of international policies.

More funding to develop domestic energy supplies.

• Whereas, our nation is lacking in the infrastructure necessary to drive our growing technology-based economy with reliable, high-quality, affordable energy supplies; deficient in efficiency improvements that enable the balance of supply and demand; and subject to the market volatility of some fuels;
• Whereas, in order to maintain the world’s strongest economy coupled with a clean environment, we need to support and develop policies and technologies that enable a diversity of domestic energy resources to be utilized throughout the region;
• Whereas, the United States’ electricity transmission grid is the most reliable in the world, but the increasing demand for electricity, the expanding competitive electricity market and related regulatory and jurisdictional issues create a challenge to maintaining national reliability of the transmission grid that was designed and constructed to serve local needs rather than to serve a rapidly growing national wholesale market;
• Resolved, that the Southern Governors’ Association urges Congress and the President to provide in any national energy policy:
  • adequate funding and incentives for further development of clean and efficient technologies and systems to provide an effective approach to increasing domestic energy supplies, improving the efficiency of energy use and enhancing the environment;
  • full funding for the State Energy Program (SEP) to expand development and deployment of technologies appropriate for each state and each region and to develop and maintain energy emergency response mechanisms, exercises and programs in the states and the region;
  • consolidated and efficient method for siting of electric transmission lines across multiple jurisdictions while maintaining the states’ primary authority and developed in close consultation with the nation’s governors.

Use federal funds for nuclear cleanup, with state input.

• Whereas, in order to protect the health, safety and welfare of our citizens by maintaining safe and clear strategies for the transportation, disposition and environmental clean-up of the nation’s nuclear materials, including nuclear weapons materials, at DOE nuclear energy and weapons complexes; now, therefore, be it
• Resolved, that the Southern Governors’ Association urges Congress and the President in any national energy policy:
  • provide full funding for all of DOE’s past and present commitments related to clean-up operations at DOE nuclear energy and weapons complexes and disposition plans for nuclear materials, including nuclear weapons materials;
  • provide full funding for all state public health and environmental sampling and analysis activities at DOE nuclear energy and weapons complexes;
  • and provide clear instruction to DOE that states’ rights must be respected and that plans regarding DOE sites for processing of DOE research and weapons waste must be made in consultation with the various states concluding in mutually agreeable terms.

Share offshore oil development revenue with states.

• Whereas, the coastal regions of the US are fragile environmentally and under intense pressure from onshore support activities for the development of the nation’s oil and natural gas resources on the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS);
• Whereas, each year the federal government receives billions of dollars in revenues from the development of oil and natural gas resources on the OCS, a capital asset of this nation;
• Whereas, the federal government does not share directly with the coastal states a meaningful portion of the revenues from the OCS, but it does share 50 percent of the revenues with the state for the development of onshore federal mineral resources within the state’s borders;
• Whereas, states that host onshore activities in support of offshore OCS mineral development should receive a share of these revenues to offset the impacts of this development;
• Whereas,, at least a portion of the revenues from this capital asset of the nation should be:
  • reinvested in infrastructure and environmental restoration in the coastal region of this nation;
  • used to fund the state and federal portions of the Land and Water Conservation Fund;
  • used for the primary objective of increasing conservation programs for non-game wildlife species and for programs that support fish and wildlife -dependent recreation;
  • used for preventing declining species from falling into the categories of threatened or endangered;
  • used to preserve and restore our nation’s historic places and to rehabilitate critically needed recreation facilities in our country’s urban areas;
• Resolved, That the southern governors urge the US Congress to pass and the President to sign legislation sharing a meaningful portion of OCS mineral revenues with all states and territories for the purposes stated above.