Declare Energy Independence

Enlarge Image Image Gallery Large-scale wind power has tremendous potential in the United States, particulalry in the Midwest. VEER

Fact: All forms of energy are subsidized. Oil. Gas. Coal. Nuclear. Renewables. All of them. No type of energy stands alone in the market, free of tax breaks, research grants or other forms of government help. Fact: Subsidies are ultimately funded by the taxes we pay.

Few except pure libertarians would do away with all government intervention in the energy marketplace. But the salient question is, given the increasing problems connected with conventional energy, which subsidies make sense and which don’t?

The question must be asked because our current energy habits are not sustainable for the environment, our national security or our economic health. The United States must establish a long-term strategy to shift to cleaner, more diverse, more secure sources of energy used more efficiently. Subsidies can be a major tool in this effort, and those that move us closer to that goal deserve support. Those that don’t should be terminated.

A Time for Leadership

Beyond environmental impacts, there are good reasons to rewrite our nation’s energy script. America uses too much oil too inefficiently. Imported oil fills the gap between rising demand and declining domestic production. In 2004, imports accounted for 58 percent of consumption. By 2030, imports will reach 62 percent, government projections forecast.

Oil dependence leads to serious security risks. Many oil-exporting countries, such as Iran and Saudi Arabia, are run by unpredictable regimes. Violence and civil unrest in such countries can roil an increasingly tight global oil market, adding a “fear premium” to prices and exposing the economy to disruptions that could send fuel prices upward. Furthermore, high U.S. demand keeps oil prices high — a subsidy we pay to what New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman calls the world’s worst regimes.

At some point, crude oil production will peak and begin an inexorable decline. No one knows for sure when “peak oil” will be reached, but some experts say it is just around the corner. Long lead times will be necessary to introduce replacement fuels, according to a 2005 study published by the National Energy Technology Laboratory. Better to start sooner on alternatives rather than later, or risk serious harm to the economy, the study said.

The clinching argument for a new energy strategy is global warming. Few reputable scientists disagree that the climate trend bears human fingerprints. Without U.S. leadership and action, there is little chance of halting the buildup of heat-trapping greenhouse gases in the Earth’s atmosphere. The risks of harmful consequences — coastal flooding, increasingly violent weather, spreading of pests and disease, water and food shortages — will rise to dangerous levels. As science academies from the United States and 10 other nations said in a joint statement last year, prompt action is necessary to prevent dangerous, human-caused interference with global climate systems.