From: tgray@igc.apc.org (Tom Gray)
Newsgroups: sci.environment
Subject: --UCS Offers New Energy Policies
Date: 6 Oct 92 12:28:00 GMT
Nf-ID: #N:cdp:1466601783:000:5158
Nf-From: cdp.UUCP!tgray    Oct  6 05:28:00 1992


From: Tom Gray <tgray>
Subject: --UCS Offers New Energy Policies

UCS ANALYSTS OUTLINE POLICIES
FOR SUSTAINABLE ENERGY FUTURE

"New thinking" on energy policy will be required to meet public
desires for energy services in the future while preserving the
environment, according to Michael Brower and Alden Meyer of the
Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS), an environmental organization.

Writing in Solar Today magazine, Brower and Meyer suggest that
conventional thinking about energy has reached a dead end, in which
meeting America's short-term energy needs supposedly requires
undermining the environment on which its long-term economic well-
being depends.

"Rather than asking 'How can we produce enough energy?,'" the two
write, "energy policymakers should ask 'How can we ensure that our
energy system provides the services we want at the least cost?'" 
No one, they add, wants energy itself -- people want the services,
such as "light, comfort, mobility and the ability to transform raw
materials into useful products" that energy provides.

One key recommendation that flows from this thinking:  "[W]hile the
nation (and the world) must shift away from reliance on coal and
oil if we are to lessen the risk of ecologically disastrous rates
of global warming, we must also consider the need for job
retraining and economic conversion strategies for those workers and
regions of the country that will be most affected by this shift."

The two go on to outline three basic principles for energy policy -
- harnessing market forces, making efficiency the standard, and
investing in the future -- and a series of specific objectives
associated with each.  A summary follows:

Harnessing Market Forces:

o    Promote least-cost planning:  State public utility commissions
     (PUCs) should require utilities to adopt least-cost planning,
     which means including conservation measures and their costs
     among sources of new energy "supply."

o    Production tax credit for renewable energy:  The federal
     government should enact a credit for renewables to compensate
     for current tax treatment that favors "fuel-intensive fossil
     technologies."

o    Market incentives for efficiency technologies:  Pricing
     methods should be developed that "incorporate part of the
     long-term energy costs" of an auto or appliance at the point
     of sale, so that fuel-efficient purchases are encouraged.

o    Shift the tax burden toward pollution:  The federal government
     should tax emissions of pollutants and of carbon dioxide, and
     use the revenue to reduce income or other taxes.

Making Efficiency the Standard:

o    Increase auto fuel efficiency to reduce foreign oil
     dependence:  Improved federal Corporate Average Fuel Economy
     (CAFE) standards could save 2.5 million barrels of oil a day
     by 2005.

o    Change building and appliance efficiency standards to minimize
     life-cycle cost:  Federal standards for appliances should be
     extended and new standards for buildings should be developed
     that encourage efficiency.

o    Require effective energy management at federal facilities: 
     The federal government spends more than $12 billion each year
     for energy, and could reduce that amount by at least $850
     million through cost-effective efficiency improvements.

Investing in the Future:

o    Give energy efficiency and renewables their fair share of
     federal dollars:  The federal government should base R&D
     funding on the degree to which new technologies can contribute
     to least-cost supply.  The share of R&D funds allocated to
     renewables and efficiency should shift from the current 15
     percent to 67 percent, or about $2 billion a year.


o    Develop an integrated transportation network to reduce
     congestion and fuel waste:  Federal policies should include
     high-occupancy vehicle (HOV) lanes, ridesharing programs, and
     model zoning codes to reduce urban sprawl.

o    Expand education and training in energy-efficient and
     renewable energy design and construction:  Federal and state
     programs should work with the private sector to encourage
     training of qualified personnel in these areas.

===============================

The American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) has authorized me to offer
an electronic edition of its newsletter, _Wind Energy Weekly_, from
which the above article is excerpted, at no cost.

For those of you who have not previously seen excerpts from back issues
on Usenet or Bitnet, the _Weekly_ reports on the outlook for renewable
energy, energy-related environmental issues, and renewable energy
legislation in addition to wind industry trade news.  The electronic
edition normally runs about 10kb in length.

If you would like a free electronic subscription, send me an e-mail
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*******************************************************************
Tom Gray                                 EcoNet/PeaceNet: tgray@igc
Internet/Bitnet: tgray@igc.apc.org    UUCP: uunet!pyramid!cdp!tgray