Henri Reynard Speaks Out

Energy Policy and You

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The policies of our governmental agencies impact energy supply and affect our access to energy resources immensely. They impact price, availability, distribution, refining capacity, mining, drilling and which conversion technologies are used to produce the heat, mechanical power and electrical power for our society. Through those impacts they have a large affect on the cost of energy to consumers and businesses. From subsidies that were granted to oil producers throughout the history of the oil industry in the form of tax credits, to regulations governing the strip mining of coal the government is ever present in our energy industry. Some people believe that the government presence causes problems, some believe that it is all that keeps this basic industry from causing economic disasters by balancing the mammoth forces at work in our energy economy. The truth probably lies somewhere in the middle, this primer is not a place to debate the detailed issues involved. They would bore most of us to death. The interesting parts of energy policy to most of us are those that relate to our efforts to make our homes and businesses more efficient.

We are compiling a list of programs that allow people to invest in alternative sources of energy such as solar and wind energy with tax credit or other kinds of support from governmental sources. We are also including governmental programs that help you better insulate your house, reduce your heat and cooling losses and define your personal program for energy efficiency. The amounts of money that some of these projects can save you over the life of your home, are surprising. The issue is to take advantage of the ones that are appropriate for your environment. Palm Beach residents have very different needs than Duluth Minnesota residents. The States all have an office that deals with energy efficiency issues. Our appendices have the local phone numbers and email addresses of each of these agencies. In addition we have compiled a collection of energy programs developed for the citizens of each state and by the federal government that you should find useful.

Policies above the level of what directly and visibly impacts your energy bills and your cost of living are often complex and difficult to understand. Some have been in place for a very long time and are still in place mainly due to inertia. Others were put in place in the 1970's in response to what was then perceived as an energy crisis. Still others have changed recently or are in the process of changing today. The main policy system of interest to many of us is the one that supports an oil supply largely external to our country. Nearly 60% of our oil is derived from wells outside of our country. This is a strategic nightmare in time of war, and could easily become an economic nightmare in time of peace. We are living with this fact due largely to the lack of immediate motivation for change. The people who have the oil still want our money as much as we want their oil. If that ever changes life will get difficult. It will remain difficult while we adjust our economy and our transportation system to reflect our real lack of oil sources inside our borders.

Natural gas is also a major source of energy that is beginning to reach some early limits of production inside our borders. It is generally not as easily transportable as oil across long distances without pipelines available. Oceanic transport depends on cryogenic facilities and high levels of compression, neither cheap to build nor particularly safe. As technologies go, cryogenic storage and transport of natural gas is not one which I would choose to have within a mile of my house. It is feasible at some price for gas, the current prices are probably high enough in some parts of the country. This may become a basis for policies that encourage cryogenic gas imports to areas of our country that are near the coast and far from internal supplies. Most natural gas is currently piped in from somewhere on our continent. If demand continues to grow at the current rate we will have to import more and more as time goes on. This will increase our import/export deficit and reduce our national security in regard to fuel supplies.

Optional policies have been proposed in the past and will be proposed in the future. Until the leaders of this nation grasp how vulnerable we presently are to disruptions abroad we will continue to base our fuel system on the lowest immediate cost per energy unit. This is likely to bring our economy to a screeching halt when the supply no longer exceeds demand. Short-sighted policies in this area constitute the greatest threat to national security in our nation's history. The politics of oil are no longer in our favor. We need to recognize that fact and act on it or we will all pay a large cost in economic disruption when demand exceeds supply, which could happen in the case of oil within the next ten years.