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| ***[U.S. Representative Joe Barton]{.smallcaps}***                    |
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| **Barton's Weekly Column**                                            |
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| 2109 Rayburn House Office Building - Washington, DC 20515 -           |
| 202.225.2002                                                          |
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| Contact: Karen Modlin - Karen.Modlin@mail.house.gov                   |
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Friday, August 10, 2007

***Where's the Energy?***

*by*

***Congressman Joe Barton***

 

In the 1980s, a series of popular television commercials for a hamburger
chain featured the unforgettable tagline "Where's the beef?" Over the
past few weeks, that's the sort of question I have been asking my
Democratic friends in Congress about their energy bill: "Where's the
energy?"

Unfortunately, the bill that passed the House of Representatives on
August 4 fails to address most of the energy sources Americans use each
and every day. Believe it or not, coal, nuclear power, oil, natural gas,
hydroelectricity, renewable energy, and gas mileage standards for cars
were not allowed in the bill.

Instead, the bill sets aside billions of dollars for the creation of
programs and mandates that are either unrealistic, or place an undue
burden on the American people. For example, the Democrats' energy bill
contains a conservation title which says that by the year 2050, no
commercial building in America can use more energy than it creates. This
means that every commercial property owner in the country, from small
bakeries to large factories, would essentially have to become its own
utility company. Even worse, there's no exemption for historic
buildings.

I fully support research and development into clean sources of domestic
energy and efforts to increase conservation, which is why I made them a
big part of the Energy Policy Act of 2005. That bill provided incentives
for clean coal and nuclear technologies as well as renewable energies
such as biomass, wind, solar and hydroelectricity. It established
efficiency requirements for federal buildings and efficiency standards
and product labeling for battery chargers, commercial refrigerators,
freezers, unit heaters and other household products. But these elements
were just a part of an overall bill that also encouraged more domestic
production of energy from traditional sources.

The fact is, many of the new technologies that we are moving toward
won't be ready for years. In the meantime, it's essential that we
utilize the sources of energy we have at our disposal (and are prepared
to use). Today, you simply can't go to the car dealership and purchase a
hydrogen car for your family. And while E-85 as a fuel source is
growing, the energy needed to process corn into ethanol is primarily
derived from natural gas in the U.S.

Yet the so-called "energy" bill that recently passed the House
completely ignored petroleum, which is the source of 40% of our nation's
energy. With gas prices soaring to nearly \$3 a gallon, ignoring this
aspect of our energy supply is downright irresponsible. So is relying on
unstable Middle Eastern sources of oil when we have a vast supply
sitting untouched within our borders.

While we continue to rely on foreign countries to provide 60% of our oil
needs, up to 16 billion barrels of oil lie waiting in a 2,000 acre patch
of land in Alaska (part of the 19-million-acre ANWR). That's enough oil
to offset all Saudi imports for the next 30 years. Estimates also show
that U.S. oil shale reserves contain enough energy to supply our oil
needs for 228 years. That is more oil than the entire world has used
since oil was first discovered, and is more than twice as much oil as
all the OPEC countries hold combined. Yet this bill seeks to slow the
leasing program that would help bring this oil out of the ground and
into the marketplace.

Ever since I first came to Congress, energy has been an issue on which
both parties have been able to work together and reach a consensus.
Although there is a bipartisan coalition in both the House and Senate
who are ready to work together to achieve a balanced energy policy, some
members of the Democratic leadership refused to allow that to happen
with this bill. Given the President's plan to veto the bill should it
reach his desk, it's time we once again come together and work on energy
legislation that will both look toward the future of energy in this
country, while not ignoring our present needs. Doing so is something on
which I believe many Republicans and Democrats can agree. "Where's the
beef?" may have made for a funny commercial, but asking "Where's the
energy?" is no laughing matter.

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