PPI | Policy Report | October 16, 2006
A Progressive Energy Platform
By Jan Mazurek, Roger Ballentine, Randolph Court and Will Marshall
Editor's Note: The full text of this policy report is available in Adobe PDF format, only. (Requires Adobe Acrobat Reader.)
America faces a dangerous, long-term energy crisis. The country's addiction to carbon-based fuels -- especially imported oil -- poses a triple threat to its national security, economic vitality, and environmental health. Yet the Bush administration and the Republican Congress have been shirking their responsibility to spur change. Instead, they cling defiantly to the status quo.
It is time for progressives to fill the leadership void by offering a realistic plan that begins in the here and now and leads quickly to a clean energy future. In a new policy report entitled A Progressive Energy Platform, the Progressive Policy Institute offers a plan to address America's two distinct energy needs: fuel for transportation and power to generate electricity. Specifically the plan proposes:
Cap carbon now to create a profit motive for companies to burn less oil and other fossil fuels;
Replace fuel economy standards with "tailpipe trading" that could save 2 million barrels of oil a day -- roughly the amount that America imports from the Persian Gulf;
Substitute homegrown biofuels for oil by requiring vehicle manufacturers to offer every model of car and truck with the option of an engine that runs on gasoline or ethanol -- a modification that would only cost as little as $25 per car;
Capture the "clean tech" market. The global market for alternative energy is expected to quadruple $40 billion in 2005 to nearly $170 billion by 2015;
Increase natural gas supplies and diversify into other energy sources that generate electricity while reducing greenhouse gas emissions;
Expand nuclear power, which produces no greenhouse gas emissions. New plant designs can produce power more safely and economically than first-generation facilities;
Bring "clean coal" plants online through a federal funding stream to commercialize the industry;
Aggressively expand the use of renewable energy such as wind, solar power, and geo-thermal heat, which can help create jobs, clean the air, and enhance energy security;
Build smarter, greener buildings, which could save up to 70% of energy used in the commercial sector;
Modernize the grid to create a greater capacity and stability to support a new generation of plug-in hybrid-electric vehicles; and
Generate more power closer to consumers to reduce the need for larger plants and long-distance power delivery wires.
Download the full text of this report. (PDF)
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