Secretary Chu's Misleading Energy Address

Yesterday, Energy Secretary Chu spoke at the National Press Club, and reiterated a message that’s quite common from his speeches over the past two years. But, he said there’s a new sense of urgency now that empowered Republicans have vowed to dramatically cut federal spending.

I say that the only sense of urgency is for the federal government to get on with dramatic federal spending cuts, and especially in the energy R&D area.

In his talk, “Is the Energy Race Our New ‘Sputnik’ Moment?,” Chu said countries such as China have replaced Russia as the biggest threats to U.S. dominance in science. These countries are gaining economic and political clout rapidly on the international stage because of their willingness to invest heavily in scientific research and to do so with long-term policies in place.

I say, is Chu talking about energy or is he talking about scientific research in general? If he is talking about both, I agree completely that they are worthy of consideration. However, this is not an area for government. It is private education and private industry that are responsible for our continued development in energy technology and science in general.

Chu says, “I think time is running out. We shouldn’t lose sight of this, and federal support for science R&D will be critical for our economic competitiveness.”

I say, "Baloney!" Federal support for R&D is not critical to our economic competitiveness. Economic competitiveness lies in the hands of private industry. Government should keep out of it, other than to see that there is fairness on the international playing field. Government can assure this by use of the "Import Duty" card.

Chu spoke on the day when the White House’s Office of Science and Technology issued a report recommending an annual spending of $16 billion in energy research and development, which would be a big boost from the current annual average spending of $5 billion.

The federal government has spent billions of dollars over the past two years to support research as well as demonstration and even commercial projects in a variety of energy-related industries, including renewable power, electric grid upgrades, electric cars and their batteries, biofuels and a host of technologies to reduce energy use in office buildings and homes. The largess came from the stimulus package that aimed to rescue the ailing economy, and its various programs are coming to an end.

This previous spending has been money down a rat hole. The economic leadership of energy for the US is efficiency. This comes about through use of coal and oil, without the furthering a way of R&D and production funds for wind and solar. Periodically our government officials hold China as an example for development of renewable energy, when in fact the amount of money spent by China on renewable energy is picqueune. Look at the actual Chinese funding numbers for development of coal and oil. You will see that funding for Chinese renewable energy is window dressing.

I previously proposed that Secretary Chu be fired from his job. I maintain that position. He not only is not doing his job but is actually doing damage to the country.

Executive Order on Polar Bears Restricts Domestic Oil and Gas Production

The International Business Times US reports that more than 187,000 square miles of on-shore barrier islands in Alaska have been designated a 'critical habitat' for polar bears.

This is an area larger than each of the 50 states, except Texas and all of Alaska. The area reportedly includes Chukchi and Beaufort seas, both sites for oil and gas explorations. The special status could mean additional restrictions over the companies applying for permits to operate in the region.

The imposition of probable restrictions on oil and gas drilling was done by Executive Order through Tom Strickland, Assistant Secretary for Fish and Wildlife and Parks.

I have nothing against polar bears other than the fact that I don't want to get close to them, since I know that the one thing they have in mind is to have me for lunch. However, this country is in dire need of domestic oil and gas production and any limitation, such as the above, continues to damage our economic position. The simple question is why do we keep shooting ourselves in the foot?

Is it because we don't have a realistic understanding of environmentalism, or is it a continuation of President Obama's program to equalize wealth on a worldwide basis, through restricting economic growth in the US?

It seems to me that this is another example of the executive branch of government controlling all government activities, while Congress sits idly by and watches destruction of our economy and increased vulnerability to physical destruction by foreign powers because of our energy weakness.

Domestic Oil and Gas Production Is a Must

Open letter to Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison (R) Texas:

Dear Senator Hutchison,
I have read your. Letter concerning your position on a national energy policy, and am sorry to see that you are not applying proper logic to the problem.
For example, you say that you support a comprehensive energy strategy that combines conservation, the development of alternative sources of energy, and the use of domestic oil and gas production. Of the three items you mention, the only logical one is "use of domestic oil and gas production". Consideration of the other two only tends to dilute and waste our energies in an unproductive manner.
Conservation should be a standard procedure in all of operations, not only in energy usage. Excessive consideration of conservation tends to give an unbalanced approach, since it is obvious that conservation alone can do little to supply us with the increased energy we need for continued economic development.
Even more significant as an item of interference is consideration of alternative sources of energy. The alternative sources are generally listed as wind, solar, and nuclear. Of these only nuclear has the potential to be economically competitive with the burning of fossil fuels, which includes coal, oil, and natural gas. I have said previously that government subsidies for all forms of energy should be immediately terminated, and particularly those for wind and solar, which is taxpayer money down a rat hole.
While I appreciate your attempt to be unbiased and consider energy in all forms, you must go further by sorting out the ridiculous. Immediately eliminate all subsidies and reduce restrictions on oil and gas drilling to encourage local production.
Do not fall into the traps of considering "sustainability", and the crying of environmentalist extremists. No one really knows the extent of oil and gas reserves. We continue to find "gushers", such as in the BP Gulf oil spill. If we ever run short in your lifetime and even that of your grandchildren, you can depend upon American ingenuity to come up with the necessary alternatives. Government's best position is to stay out of the way and not fritter away taxpayer money.

Alternate Energy Subsidies Are Money down a Rat Hole

EIN News says, "Walter Energy Bids $3.3 Billion for Western Coal. Walter Energy Inc. is launching a $3.3-billion takeover proposal for Canadian miner Western Coal Corp., as fast-rising demand from a rapidly industrializing China spurs global competition to secure coal assets. (theglobeandmail.com)"

If alternate forms of energy, such as wind and solar, are such a great idea, why is there such great activity in Petrobras Brazil willing to spend big bucks for oil reserves, and now Walter energy doing the same thing on coal?


Answer: Wind and solar are uneconomical compared to oil and coal, without government (read taxpayer) subsidies.

Let's get the US government out of the energy business and let private industry do the job it was originally set up to do. Start by eliminating all subsidies for energy in any form; solar, wind, oil, coal, natural gas, and nuclear. We cannot afford any obtuse considerations on energy. We are broke. Foreign governments will no longer buy our bonds to monetize our budget deficit. We are forced to buy our own bonds in a left-hand selling to the right-hand fraudulent process, which only leads to inflation. Stop this foolishness. You can't create money that has value from thin air.

Death of Ethanol As Fuel in Brazil

EIN News says, "Petrobras Aspires to Be World's Biggest Oil Producer. Petrobras will invest $224 billion over next five years with a target to produce 5.4 million barrels of oil and gas a day over the next decade, the most produced by any publicly quoted company in the world. (guardian.co.uk)".

Here's your answer to the futility of subsidizing alternate forms of energy. Our subsidization of ethanol production from corn was based on the Brazilian model of ethanol from sugarcane. Petrobras is the Brazilian government's oil company (socialistic). From the Petrobras announcement with respect to oil, it is apparent that they have no belief in the economics of ethanol as a fuel, in spite of the fact that they have large amounts of sugarcane, which is equivalent to corn as a basic raw material for ethanol production.

The obvious lead for us is to eliminate subsidies for ethanol production and DRILL, DRILL, DRILL for oil.

Some will cry that elimination of ethanol production will increase unemployment, but that is not necessarily so. More people will be employed in drilling and processing oil. Continued production of ethanol for fuel use is equivalent to the process of digging and filling in holes. Lots of work but no real progress.