Business Week Online is responsible only for material that is identified as having been prepared by Business Week. Business groups have joined a new coalition that is urging the United States to adopt a national energy policy. Now we need to be united in the pursuit of a comprehensive energy policy, just as we are united in our understanding that the United States is facing significant, long-term energy supply problems. The price of energy can mean success or failure for many small businesses, said Karen Kerrigan, founder and chairwoman of the Small Business Survival Committee, another alliance member.
Energy costs are one of the largest expenses for many small firms.
They want reliable delivery of that energy, whether through wires or pipelines, and they want continued energy-efficiency improvements in appliances and equipment, to help keep costs down for the goods and services they sell. Members of the alliance represent energy customers ranging from small, independent businesses to the nation's largest manufacturers, as well as companies that generate and distribute energy from natural gas, oil, coal and nuclear sources. Focus won't be on conservation Vice President Dick Cheney, former chief of oil-services company Halliburton Inc., said Monday the Bush administration will announce a new U.S. energy strategy in a few weeks. The long-term strategy will not focus on conservation. Renewable energy resources, including biomass, geothermal, wind and solar energy, currently meet about 2 percent of the nation's energy needs, and can be expected to meet only about 6 percent of the nation's needs in 20 years, Cheney said.