Joe Biden on energy policy

From Joe Biden’s Energy, Climate Change, and Environment Plans

Global competition over oil is going to intensify. The United States imports about 14 million of the 21 million barrels of oil we consume daily. We have less than 2 percent of the world’s oil reserves. The extraordinary growth of China and India insures that demand in the world will outpace the discovery of new supplies. China alone is expected to add 120 million vehicles in the next 5 years. Unless we develop a realistic and effective energy policy our nation will become even more vulnerable to oil price increases, more dependent on oil imports and less able to pursue our national interests.

Climate change poses a similar security threat. The Center for Naval Analysis recently concluded that we are only beginning to understand the threat that climate change poses. If temperatures rise 3-5 degrees, oceans could rise nearly 3 feet. By one estimate, 200 million people, in the coastal cities of New York, Tokyo, Cairo, and London, in low-lying countries such as Bangladesh and Indonesia, and in the islands of the Pacific and Caribbean, could be permanently displaced. Droughts and changes in resources in other parts of the world can also lead to conflict. For example, in Darfur farmers and nomads are fighting over land because of a drought. Unless we take steps to halt climate change we can expect to see a rise in regional conflict.

Joe Biden would establish a comprehensive Energy and Climate Change Security Plan to transform the nation into a world leader on energy and climate change by:

1. Establishing A Responsible Policy Toward Iran

2. Increasing Fuel Efficiency and Use of Renewable Fuels

3. Investing In New Energy Technology

4. Expanding Renewable Energy

5. Requiring the Federal Government To Use Energy More Efficiently

6. Encouraging Americans to Use Energy Efficiently

7. Creating Green Jobs in the Technology of Tomorrow

1. Establish a Responsible Policy Toward Iran

* Stopping self-defeating saber-rattling when it comes to Iran. Instead, we should make clear our interest is not regime change but conduct change.

* Building and sustaining an international coalition that makes clear to Iran everything it stands to lose if it pursues nuclear weapons - but also everything it stands to gain if it does not. The more we make Iran the world’s problem, not just our own, the more we can keep tensions in check and meaningful pressure on Iran.

2. Increase Fuel Efficiency and Use of Renewable Fuels

Joe Biden would substantially decrease our dependence on oil from the unstable regions like the Middle East and cut greenhouse gas emissions by more than 100 million tons a year by:

* Raising Fuel Economy Standards By 1 Mile Per Gallon Each Year: Instead of focusing on a fleetwide average, Joe Biden would advance fuel economy by upgrading to a better system that combines assistance for U.S. automobile manufacturing jobs with predictable increases in fuel efficiency standards for cars, SUVs and light trucks. The new system would set fuel economy standards based on the attributes of a vehicle (such as its size and weight). Instead of combining cars and trucks and imposing fleetwide averages, individualized fuel economy targets that increase by 4 percent per year (or approximately 1 mile per gallon each year) would be set for vehicles. Under this system fuel economy would increase from an average of 27.5 mpg to 40 mpg by 2017. Improving fuel economy by just one mile a gallon a year will save approximately the same amount of oil we import from Saudi Arabia and will cut greenhouse gas emissions by more than 100 million tons a year.

* Investing in the Next Generation Technology: The market for lithium ion batteries - those needed for the next generation of plug-in hybrids which can get up to 100 miles per gallon - is dominated by foreign competitors like the Japanese, Koreans and Chinese. That is because these countries have invested hundreds of millions of dollars in developing and supporting the technology. Joe Biden believes the United States needs to make an equal investment in new technology like lithium ion batteries. He has proposed legislation that would double the investment in the development of advanced lithium ion batteries needed for plug-in hybrids and electric vehicles - increasing it from $42 million to $100 million a year for five years.

* Requiring New Vehicles Be Flex-Fuel Vehicles: Joe Biden would require all cars marketed in the US be capable of running on E85/flex fuel or regular gasoline by 2017 - a cost estimated to be just $100 per car. Joe Biden would direct automakers to gradually increase flex-fuel vehicle (FFV) production, increasing ten percentage-point increments annually, until nearly all vehicles sold in the U.S. are flex fuel vehicles within 10 years. At this rate half of all vehicles sold in the US would be flex fuel vehicles in five years. Currently, flex-fuel vehicles -- those able to use both regular gasoline and blends of up to 85 percent ethanol (E85) - make up only about two percent of vehicles on the road today (5 million).

* Requiring Large Gas Station Chains To Sell Alternative Fuels: Only around 1,300 of the 140,000 gas stations nationwide offer E85 or alternative fuels to customers. Major oil companies (those that own 4,500 stations or more) should offer alternative refueling capability at 50 percent of the stations they own by 2017. Joe Biden would require large chains to install E85 pumps at their stations, increasing by five percent annually over the next 10 years.

* Increasing The Amount of Farm-Grown Fuel In Our Fuel Supply: Joe Biden would increase the amount of ethanol and biodiesel included in the nation’s fuel supply by extending and increasing the current Renewable Fuel Standard and setting standards for biodiesel. Currently the Renewable Fuel Standard sets a benchmark of 7.5 billion gallons by 2012 - a fraction of the overall U.S. gasoline consumption which is 140 billion gallons per year. Joe Biden would increase the benchmarks to: 10 billion gallons by 2010; 30 billion gallons by 2020; 60 billion gallons by 2030.

* Helping American Manufacturers: Joe Biden would provide new incentives to vehicle manufacturers and parts suppliers to retool for the future by giving them credit for investments to re-equip, expand, or establish manufacturing facilities that produce advanced technology motor vehicles or components and for certain engineering, research and development, and employee training.

3. Invest in New Energy Technology

The United States should lead the world in innovation and clean energy technology. Our energy security and our economic future require that we have the domestic resources to research, develop, and bring to market the clean energy the world will need. Over the past five years the federal investment in research and development remained flat. Basic research is the backbone of our economy. Yet over the 25 years from FY 1978 to FY 2004, government spending on energy research and development fell from $6 billion to $1.8 billion. We should be exporting technology instead of importing the parts to build biofuel plants from India or solar panels from Spain. To create jobs, boost spending on alternative energy, climate research, carbon capture and sequestration, and energy efficiency Joe Biden would:

* Create A Five-year, $50 billion Apollo Project For Energy and Climate Change: Joe Biden supports more than $50 billion in new incentives for research into: alternative fuel and energy sources, renewable energy technology, nuclear waste management and safety, and carbon capture and sequestration technologies that could allow us to use coal cleanly. Programs would include financial prizes awarded for breakthroughs in specific technologies; additional funds for an “Energy ARPA,” a successful decentralized, high risk- high reward research model; demonstration and test projects designed to jump-start commercial implementation; and additional funding for critical technologies.

Joe Biden would pay for the Apollo Project by:

* Taxing Oil Company Windfall Profits: In 2006, ExxonMobil made a profit of $40 billion, the largest profit ever recorded by an American company. Joe Biden would impose a windfall profits tax that would go directly into the Apollo Project when oil companies post record profits from skyrocketing oil prices.

* Repealing Unnecessary Tax Breaks For Big Oil Companies: In 2006, Joe Biden asked several oil executives point-blank whether they needed $2.6 billion in tax breaks they were given in 2005. They said no. Joe Biden would take back these tax giveaways the oil companies didn’t even ask for and have testified they do not need.

* Auctioning Carbon Credits: Auctioning carbon credits in a cap-and-trade climate system would provide even more funding for the research and development needed to put us on course to be a leader in the energy of tomorrow.

* Collecting Royalties For Production of Oil and Gas on the Outer Continental Shelf: According to the GAO, as much as $60 billion in royalties could go uncollected thanks to court ruling that oil companies do not have to pay royalties for oil production on the federally controlled Outer Continental Shelf. Joe Biden would require oil companies to pay their fair share as Congress originally intended.

* Preventing Price Gouging: Joe Biden has consistently fought against price-gouging by the oil companies. He would empower the President to declare a temporary energy emergency like many governors did after Hurricane Katrina to ensure secure and reasonably priced fuel. He would also ban manipulative practices in oil pricing.

4. Expand Use Of Renewable Energy

We can meet a much greater share of the nation’s energy demand through renewable resources like wind, solar, biomass and geothermal. A quarter of the country has winds strong enough to generate electricity -- seven states in the Southwest alone have the potential to provide 10 times the current electric generating capacity through solar power. But just 2.3 percent of our power comes from these sources today. To meet the nation’s growing demand for energy we must use more renewable resources. Joe Biden would increase use of renewable energy by:

* Establishing a National Renewable Electricity Standard. Joe Biden would set a national Renewable Electricity Standard of 20 percent to require that at least one-fifth of the country’s electricity comes from clean, renewable sources like wind, solar, biomass and geothermal.

5. Require the Federal Government To Be More Energy Efficient

The US government is the country’s largest energy consumer. Joe Biden would save taxpayers money - almost $4 billion dollars - and reduce carbon dioxide emissions by millions of tons by requiring the government to be more energy efficient. He would:

* Establish Energy Efficiency and Renewable Resources As A National Priority: Joe Biden would require every government agency to become more energy efficient and insure that energy efficiency and use of renewable resources was priority for all government projects.

* Set Renewable Energy Requirements. Joe Biden would require the federal government to purchase 10 percent renewable electricity by 2010 and 20 percent by the end of the next decade.

* Make Federal Buildings More Efficient. Joe Biden would increase federal building energy efficiency by requiring a 30 percent reduction in energy use over the next ten years. He would also require that all lighting in federal buildings be Energy Star products that save energy and money over their lifetimes.

* Improve Federal Fuel Efficiency. Joe Biden would use the federal government to drive the market. He supports requiring that federal agencies use 20 percent less gasoline by 2015 than they did in 2005 - and 10 percent more alternative fuels every year.

* Support Military Efforts to Improve Energy Efficiency: The military is the biggest consumer of energy in the federal government. Joe Biden supports extending and expanding the Pentagon’s ongoing efforts to improve its energy efficiency. By making bases energy independent, developing more efficient vehicles, and finding new sources of sustainable and deliverable energy, our military can continue to lead in implementing new technologies to keep our energy future secure.

6. Encourage Americans To Use Energy Efficiently

American families use about 1.4 trillion kilowatt-hours of electricity a year. We spend approximately $130 billion a year on electricity. Energy efficient technology can save electricity and money. Using energy more efficiently is crucial to reducing US electricity demand which is projected to grow by more than 30 percent by 2025.

Small things - like switching to highly efficient light bulbs - can make a big difference if everyone starts to make a change. Compact florescent light bulbs (CFLs) use only a quarter the energy of a regular bulb. One switch from incandescent bulbs to CFLs can save about 1000 pounds of carbon dioxide emissions over the lifetime of the bulb. If every family across the US replaces just one regular incandescent bulb with a CFL, we can reduce carbon dioxide emissions by nearly 7 million tons per year.

* Flip To Efficient Technologies. Joe Biden would create the Flip-to-Save program to provide $50 million in funding to states to administer programs to educate consumers on efficient technology and distribute highly efficient compact florescent light bulbs which use a quarter of the energy of regular bulbs.

* Increase Use of Energy Efficient Appliances. Joe Biden would expand the “Energy Star Program” to include standards for more appliances and commercial systems.

* Support Green Building Codes. Joe Biden would support local updates to building codes to capture cost-effective energy efficiency opportunities in new residential/commercial construction

* Create Incentives To Go Green. Joe Biden supports increasing incentives for energy efficient commercial buildings and manufacturing sector.

7. Create Green Jobs in the Technology of Tomorrow

Joe Biden would take action to ensure that America’s workers will be the best trained and best prepared for tomorrow’s energy economy, not a relic of the past. There is no doubt that we will use energy very differently in the future than we do today. This is a golden opportunity for America to lead the world in developing new technologies.

* “Green Jobs” Training: Joe Biden supports investing $100 million to train American workers in the renewable energy and energy efficiency industries. This would provide a core of 30,000 skilled workers to ensure American energy development doesn’t suffer from a lack of trained specialists.

* Creating Jobs Through Increasing Use of Renewable Energy: Renewable energy and energy efficiency already account for over 8 million jobs in the United States. A Renewable Electricity Standard could add another 200,000 jobs by 2020.

* Preparing America’s Economy For The Future: In a world where everyone will be buying new energy technologies, America must be prepared to sell them to stay competitive. We could save consumers $50 billion in 2020 through fuel economy improvements and a Renewable Electricity Standard. . This would also put $25 billion dollars into the pockets of farmers, ranchers, and other rural landowners who could use their land to produce clean power.

* Funding Research: Joe Biden’s Apollo program would create the next generation of scientists and engineers promote the innovation and openness to ideas that has been America’s historical strength.