Photo: Nicholas A. Tonelli
The Bipartisan Policy Center, a non-profit organization created in 2007 by former Senate Majority Leaders Howard Baker, Tom Daschle, Bob Dole, and George J. Mitchell, recently convened a group of industry professionals, environmentalists and law makers to evaluate the current energy boom and make recommendations for a balanced approach that secures a better future for America. Here is a brief list of those recommendations as reported in a recent article by CNNMoney.com:
- Fracking should continue, but tighter regulations on the practice should be imposed, particularly at the federal level
- Continue research and development on nuclear energy and offer more government loan guarantees on the construction of new nuclear power plants and reactors
- Gradually eliminate tax credits for renewable energy sources (such as wind and solar), as well as the oil industry by 2016
- Continue to develop biofuels and alternatives to oil
- Open more off-shore areas to drilling including the Gulf of Mexico, the Florida coastline, and the Eastern seaboard
- Create more energy-efficient vehicles and buildings, noting that energy efficiency has a greater impact on energy conservation than increasing energy production
- Limit restrictions on exporting energy (gas and natural gas)
- Offer government funding to more effectively capture carbon dioxide emissions from coal-burning power plants
Opinions on several issues were mixed. The group did not come to an agreement as to whether refiners must include a specific amount of ethanol in the development of biofuels and no mention was made of the proposed Keystone Pipeline or whether utilities should be powered by a percentage of renewable resources.
Overall, Byron Dorgan, former senator from North Dakota and co-chair of the group, was optimistic and excited about his peers’ bipartisan efforts, commenting, “It’s one of the most unique and interesting things I’ve ever been involved in. To get people with such diverse views around a table, and understand the element once again of compromise — something that’s been so lost in this town.”