WASHINGTON, D.C.—In an effort to reset the national conversation on energy policy, the U.S. Chamber’s Institute for 21st Century Energy today unveiled a plan designed to offer realistic, bipartisan solutions to our nation’s top energy challenges. The five-part plan was formulated after Energy Institute officials returned from the first phase of its Energy Reality Tour, a nationwide dialogue with thousands of business and community leaders on a variety of energy issues.“From coast to coast, we heard firsthand from business leaders who are frustrated with our energy policy and want Washington to come up with realistic solutions rather than just rhetoric,” said Karen Harbert, president and CEO of the Energy Institute, during today’s unveiling of Facing Our Energy Realities: A Plan to Fuel Our Recovery. “The plan we’ve put forward today highlights ways to address the five most pressing problems that are holding us back, from the lack of access to our own energy resources to the bureaucratic and regulatory problems that are preventing us from building almost any energy infrastructure and holding back progress on clean and renewable energy.”
In Facing Our Energy Realities: A Plan to Fuel Our Recovery, the Energy Institute lays out a plan to:
• Maximize America’s Own Energy Resources – America can make better use of its own abundant energy resources by promoting energy efficiency, producing more domestic energy, improving access to federal lands, and allowing for development of new resources.• Make New and Clean Energy Technologies More Affordable – To help lessen the costs that impede the use of new and cleaner energy, the Energy Institute proposes committing to innovation and demonstration of new technologies and providing financial mechanisms through a self-funding Clean Energy Bank.• Eliminate Regulatory Barriers Derailing Energy Projects – Remove unnecessary barriers by creating a predictable regulatory environment, streamlining—not weakening—environmental reviews, and prioritizing siting and permitting of interstate transmission.• Do Not Put America’s Existing Energy Sources Out of Business – Ensure that the Clean Air Act and Clean Water Act are not used indiscriminately to threaten adequate supplies of energy for a smooth transition to a cleaner energy future.• Encourage Free and Fair Trade of Energy Resources and Technologies Globally – Become more globally integrated by promoting free trade, eliminating trade barriers, and ending discriminatory content and trade policies.
“In this economic and political environment, policymakers are seeking solutions which will get us on the right path without bringing us further in debt,” Harbert said. “We’re proposing answers such as greater energy efficiency, more domestic production, streamlining—not weakening—environmental review processes, and eliminating trade barriers on clean energy goods and services. All of these solutions come at little or no taxpayer expense, but would dramatically improve our energy security in both the short and long term.”
In addition to presenting the plan to Congress and the Administration, the Energy Institute will be launching the second phase of the Energy Reality Tour to build grassroots support from the business community for the proposals in the plan.
For more information on Facing Our Energy Realities: A Plan to Fuel Our Recovery and the Energy Reality Tour, visit the Energy Institute’s website at www.energyxxi.org.
The mission of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's Institute for 21st Century Energy is to unify policymakers, regulators, business leaders, and the American public behind a common sense energy strategy to help keep America secure, prosperous, and clean. Through policy development, education, and advocacy, the Institute is building support for meaningful action at the local, state, national, and international levels.
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is the world’s largest business federation representing the interests of more than 3 million businesses of all sizes, sectors, and regions, as well as state and local chambers and industry associations.
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