Oiling The Machine

 

Bracken Hendricks is executive director of the Apollo Alliance. Skye Perryman is a policy fellow at the Institute for America's Future in Washington, D.C. This spring and summer, the Apollo Alliance will continue to drive a public campaign to demand real leadership for alternatives at the pump and in our government. Join this growing public campaign at www.apolloalliance.org.

Last week was quite a week. OPEC voted to cut oil production by 4 percent as refinery fires raged in Texas and Minnesota, almost certainly increasing the spike in gas prices. This bad news for consumers unfolded against an even grimmer economic backdrop. America saw the one millionth worker lose unemployment insurance, and though there was a bump in hiring, manufacturing failed to gain jobs for the 45th straight month, while the economy as a whole had 2.6 million fewer private sector jobs than three years ago. While overseas, our troops in Iraq faced some of their deadliest days since the end of official hostilities. Sadly, it was business as usual for the Bush presidency, whose bankrupt policies have delivered the American people turmoil abroad, a dirty environment at home, millions of lost jobs"and now a predicted three dollar gallon of gas for the summer months.

While the debate in Washington swirls over the appropriate response to rising gas prices"whether it is "jawboning" OPEC to release supply, freezing the re-supply of our strategic petroleum reserves, harmonizing regional regulations that result in boutique fuels or simply attacking political opponents for past support of conservation taxes"one point remains clear: The U.S. economy is more vulnerable to supply shocks from OPEC today because of our growing demand for imported crude oil. Another less-obvious point is that it doesn't have to be this way.

It's time once and for all to curb American dependence on oil. No longer should out economic well-being be determined by an oil cartel half a world away. America needs a forward-looking energy strategy that puts people to work rebuilding our domestic economy, makes America less dependent on oil and cleans up the environment. A new Apollo project for energy independence would use strategic public investment in clean energy technology and the infrastructure for smart growth, to ensure that our businesses are more efficient and our economy more competitive. Such an investment will create jobs for American workers.

While workers here at home are facing job insecurity and unemployment, workers in Europe and Japan are busy capturing new markets for hybrid vehicles, solar cells and wind turbines, cleaner fuels and more advanced power plants, and they are building a new generation of manufacturing capacity in the process. Like Kennedy's Apollo Project that sent a man to the moon in less than a decade and won the space race, the new Apollo project will reassert America's leadership in the next generation of technology.

The Bush-Cheney Energy Failure

But don't expect a visionary program from this president. Remember President Bush's Freedom CAR initiative? The president promised to "make America less reliant on foreign oil" and Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham said that "gas guzzlers will be a thing of the past." But in the final analysis, Bush's Freedom CAR project turned out to be another empty promise, with little new funding and a response that was wholly inadequate to the magnitude of the task before us. Instead, the United States has become more dependent on oil and more vulnerable to OPEC's decisions.

Record high gas prices are just the latest example of the Bush-Cheney failed energy policy that views conservation as a lifestyle choice and rewards corporate friends at the expense of innovation and the public interest. Families have to make tough budget choices and businesses are struggling. News stories are sprouting up across the country about the negative effects of high gas prices. Schools and cities already facing budget shortfalls have to make up for the high cost of gas, small businesses are having a hard time adjusting to the increases in price and delivery costs, the cost of production is rising for most goods, and working Americans who were already having trouble making ends meet are finding it even harder. Yet this administration continues to turn a blind eye to these pressing concerns.

Don't Buy the Blame Game

With gas prices rising in an election year, the Bush campaign and the Republican majority in Congress are scrambling to pass the blame off to someone else. Instead of taking responsibility, the Republican leadership is blaming OPEC, environmental regulations and Congress' failure to pass the president's energy package.

OPEC has indeed voted to cut production, and such a cut will strain supply, causing gas prices to rise. But it is the Bush administration's lack of vision that has kept America reliant on foreign oil, by failing to move forward on reasonable alternatives like conservation and new technology investment. As oil companies are recording record high profits and reaping new windfalls from the latest price surge, this administration blames environmental regulations for the absence of new refining capacity. Clearly this is a straw man and a false choice. At a time of historic profits for the oil industry, we can afford to invest in new capacity that meets high standards of public protection.

The Bush team also wants to blame Congress for not passing the president's energy package. The Bush energy bill, filled with corporate giveaways and breaks for big oil, however, will not answer the gas prices crunch. In fact, the president's energy package puts little to nothing towards new clean energy technologies, and does nothing to reduce our nation's reliance on oil. With America making up 25 percent of global demand for oil and in possession of only 3 percent of reserves, the only strategy that is viable over the long term is to reduce demand by diversifying our energy supply. Once again, this administration is passing the buck, failing to take responsibility for the fact that Americans are paying more at the pump.

A New Apollo Project

Sen. Kerry and others in Congress are calling for important short-term measures to increase oil supplies and lessen the burden for working families. Such measures, which include ceasing filling the Strategic Petroleum Reserve until this crisis is over, are fine policy for the short term; however, it's time to think beyond this spring and summer's oil crunch. Those like Sen. Kerry who have called for a long-term investment agenda to end America's dependence on foreign oil are doing what's right for the country.

It's time for a new Apollo project for energy independence, a long-term strategy that will work for working America. What would a new Apollo project look like? It would invest in industries of the future. It would retrofit our buildings to be more efficient, and put people to work manufacturing goods that are efficient and environmentally sound. It would rebuild our cities for smart growth"giving people better transportation choices and better access to jobs and services. Once and for all, a new Apollo project would reverse the dangerous trends that have made us vulnerable to OPEC's supply cuts.

A key example of how people are working together to bring about a better economic and energy future is the Apollo Alliance, a coalition of labor leaders, environmentalists, public officials and social justice advocates who have joined together in solidarity behind a common goal. Endorsed by 17 international labor unions, key political leaders and a broad cross-section of the environmental community, the Apollo Alliance is moving the public debate away from emphasis on short-term fixes for America's energy woes and toward a frank and visionary discussion about our long-term energy future. The Apollo Alliance is an uncommon coalition"where one can find names such as Carl Pope, executive director of the Sierra Club; Leo Gerard, president of the United Steel Workers of America; U.S. Sen Maria Cantwell, D-Wash.; and Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., D-Ill., on the same letterhead. What all of Apollo's partners have in common is the conviction that America needs a visionary and bold program for energy independence and jobs.

In January 2004, the Apollo Alliance released a groundbreaking policy study indicating that bold public investment for clean energy could create 3 million good jobs and pay for itself over the course of 10 years. The study showed that not only are there environmental reasons to invest boldly in clean energy, but there are economic ones as well.

The Apollo Alliance also is convening regional coalitions around the country. Working with governors, mayors and key leaders to educate the public on energy related issues, the Apollo Alliance has launched projects and programs in states such as Pennsylvania, Washington, California, Wisconsin and New York. What can be done on a regional level about an idea as big as energy independence? A lot. Take, for example, the recent decision by the largest public pension fund in the country, California Public Employees' Retirement System (CalPERS), to commit $200 million towards new environmental technology. This investment will create jobs and work to develop technologies good for the environment and business at the same time. On the East Coast, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton hosted a Clean Energy Economic Development conference where important discussions about smart energy alternatives occurred. Examples such as these are sprouting up all over the country"where states and regions are thinking big and bold about our energy future. The American people need leaders who will stand up for a bold new vision on energy that works for working people.

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Published: Apr 05 2004