Energy

Part I – U.S. Energy Policy

Look at the Sierra Club’s webpage called Bush’s Flawed Energy Plan.   As you scroll down the page, be certain to click the link called, Summary of the Harmful Provisions of the Energy Bill.   This energy bill became law in August 2005 when it passed the House and Senate and was signed by President Bush.

1. Note how many major environmental groups endorsed the summary.
2. Why did so many environmental groups characterize the energy bill that passed this summer as corporate welfare?
3. Should the U.S. government be subsidizing oil and gas companies?

Part II – The Real Cost of Using Gasoline

Next, read three short reports that illustrate how what we “pay” for gasoline does not actually reflect the true “cost” of using that gasoline because it does not include many “external costs” associated with gasoline, nor does it reflect the billions in subsidies that our government provides to the oil industry. The first reading is an executive summary of a 1998 report titled The Real Price of Gasoline by the International Center for Technology Assessment (to view the full report, click here). The second reading is an update to the 1998 ICTA report that calculates some of the military costs associated with protecting oil supplies from the Middle East, titled Gasoline Cost Externalities: Security and Protection Services. Finally, look at a short paper titled How Much Are We Paying for a Gallon of Gas by the Institute for the Analysis of Global Security. While reading, consider these questions:

• Are these cost estimate numbers in the reports just “funny money”? Do we really have to “pay” these costs? Don’t we already pay enough for gasoline and gasoline taxes?
• What would happen if some of the external costs associated with gasoline use identified in these reports were actually “internalized” and reflected in the price of gasoline that we pay at the pump? What impact would such a change have on low-income Americans and how might that be avoided?
• What would happen if even 1/4 or 1/3 or 1/2 of the subsidies given to the oil industry were channeled instead to development of alternative energy sources?

Additional cool websites.

The Natural Resources Defense Council has published a Responsible Energy Plan for America.

Winning the Oil Endgame is a report of the Rocky Mountain Institute that outlines a coherent strategy for drastically reducing U.S. dependence on imported oil.