Ending the energy-policy game

Question: Recent global crises are further highlighting the fault lines of America's shaky energy platform: The tragedy in Japan has brought U.S. nuclear power under scrutiny and the Middle East turmoil has seen oil prices soar, not to mention last year's BP spill tempered prospects for offshore drilling. What leadership will it take to successfully cut through the political barriers and unite the country around forging a real U.S. energy policy?

This could actually be a new party game. Forget Charades, Scrabble and Trivial Pursuit. The next time you host a gathering, simply ask your guests if they can describe the U.S. policy on energy. You’ll stump them every time–because we have no such policy.

 Here’s the problem we face: The known deposits of oil in the world are expected to run out in about three decades. Meanwhile, the world’s population keeps growing and demanding ever greater supplies of energy. Emerging countries such as China and India are going to be particularly thirsty for oil as they continue to develop their industries and add cars to their roadways. One of our favorite stops for gas, the Middle East, is politically unstable, so we’re uncertain how reliable and how affordable that source of oil will be. As for nuclear energy, necessary as it may be in the near term, its hazards have been made all too plain by the disaster in Japan.

 Amid all these concerns, the United States keeps stumbling along without a thoughtful, comprehensive, long-range energy policy. Our government and our citizens talk about formulating one whenever we face a crisis–usually a panic over the price of oil. But we’re fickle; as soon as the price drops, we’re back to our old ways, going from compact cars to Hummers in a heartbeat.

 Opportunities have presented themselves for decades, dating to the oil crises of the 1970s. More recently, there was California’s electricity crisis in the early 2000s, the big spike in oil’s price in 2008 and the BP spill last year. Yet nothing has come of these opportunities; and that clearly indicates a failure of leadership on both sides of the aisle in Washington, from one end of Pennsylvania Avenue to the other.

 Our leaders, starting with the president at his bully pulpit in the White House, must articulate the urgency of the situation. They need to show why we can’t keep traveling the same old oil-slicked path. They need to explain how we’re going to build a sound energy plan focusing on renewable sources–sun, wind, wate and others–that cause minimal harm to the environment. They need to articulate a strategy on encouraging fuel-efficient automobiles, energy-efficient buildings and modern transportation systems that minimize energy use. The president and congressional leaders need to summon their communication skills and forge the political will to create and fund the necessary programs that will guide us to an energy-efficient future. It’s an effort that calls for imagination, vision, talent of expression–all essential ingredients of leadership in any sector.

 This is the moment to act. We can’t keep putting off this problem. America needs a real energy policy. The time for games is over.

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Yash Gupta  | Mar 22, 2011 10:37 AM