ENERGY POLICY
With the election due in November, the US Presidential race is looking closer than anyone expected. With Gore and Bush neck-and-neck up to the polling booth, a major factor may be their respective Achilles’ heel –- energy policy. The contest has become more heated since the unveiling of a key plank to the Bush energy policy.
The 10-year, $7.1 billion plan would see domestic oil production increase and the cultivation of non-OPEC oil-producing regions such as Africa and Caspian Basin nations like Kazakhstan – all part of a move to reduce dependence on foreign oil imports. Under the Bush proposals, $2 billion would be set aside for research into clean-coal technologies and a further $1.4 billion would be set aside in tax credits to assist the development of alternative energy by funding electrical power derived from such sources. In addition, the approvals process would be streamlined, allowing easier development of hydropower, natural gas pipelines and thermal power stations. The most controversial component of the Bush policy concerns a $1.7 billion plan that will see some eight per cent of the Alaskan National Wildlife Refuge opened for oil exploration, a move to ensure national energy security and the resumption of the normal low oil price service. But, the $1.2 billion in estimated revenue from Alaskan production would be used to develop alternative fuels such as ethanol and biomass. Bush’s plan also sees commitments to emissions reductions notably mercury and carbon dioxide, as well as new limits on NOx and SOx, but the limits would be introduced over a “reasonable time period”, thought to be around 10 years. He also called for regulatory security that would enable plant owners to make modifications without fear of litigation, a thinly veiled reference to the on-going EPA action. And, as part of long-term agreements from non-OPEC countries, Bush proposed a North American Energy Policy initiative with Mexico and Canada.
Bush derided the policies of the outgoing administration as non-existent and blamed the Clinton camp for soaring oil costs. Criticism was also levelled at the Democratic candidate after the President, under prompting from Gore, authorised the release of 30 million barrels of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to lower domestic fuel prices.
Nonetheless, a number of administration proposals remain under the Bush plan, including a continued commitment to deregulation and the repeal of legislation such as Public Utility Company Holding Act.