Scientists: Monster BP Spill Proves Senate Must Boost Energy Efficiency Technology Spending

The Senate must increase federal research investments for future energy technologies that will strengthen energy security and reduce the likelihood of disastrous effects associated with fossil fuel exploration as evidenced by the massive BP oil spill, according to a leading organization of physicists.

It's up to the Senate to include such a boost in spending in its energy and climate legislation because the cap-and-trade energy bill approved last year by the House shortchanged that kind of research, says a statement by the American Physical Society (APS).

Specifically, legislators should start by including in its bill the president’s Clean Energy Technology Fund, an investment of $15 billion per year over 10 years to develop affordable, low-emission energy technologies, the APS statement says.

APS cites the disastrous results of the ongoing Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico as proof that the nation must do more to end its reliance on fossil fuels.

The Gulf oil spill — the worst in the history of the nation — has caused extraordinary environmental and economic damage to the communities along the Gulf Coast. Out-of-work fishermen are wondering how they will provide for their families; oil-drenched birds are struggling to live; and globs of oil are washing ashore on area beaches causing tourists to look elsewhere for vacation.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) has pledged to craft legislation in response to the BP spill. Senate Democrats held a meeting Thursday about the status of clean-energy legislation.

“There are a lot of strong passions and arguments but there is clear agreement on the need to move forward this summer on comprehensive clean energy legislation,” Reid says in a statement released after that session.

Senate Democrats agree that an energy bill must deal with the catastrophe in the Gulf; create millions of jobs; cut pollution; and strengthen U.S. economic security, national security and energy independence, Reid says.

“I’m looking forward to meeting at the White House with the relevant chairmen and leaders in the Senate, and with our Republican colleagues to forge a path forward,” the majority leader adds. “We’re going to write a bill that sets reasonable goals over a reasonable timeframe that will benefit both our environment and our economy. We’re going to write a bill that can pass the Senate.”

Reid also acknowledges an energy bill will require some Republican support in order to pass the Senate.

Sens. John Kerry (D-Mass.) and Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) have already introduced their American Power Act to deal with clean-energy and climate change issues, but it is unclear it has enough support to pass. It has come under fire recently, even by those who support clean energy and climate regulation.

Current technologies exist to begin the job of achieving energy security, the APS statement says. But to dramatically reduce the nation’s reliance on foreign oil and domestic drilling and to meet the nation’s 2030 target to substantially reduce greenhouse gases, advanced technologies are needed, the physicists add. And that means a greater investment in long-term research, they add.

Energy efficiency, an APS study panel concluded, is the easiest and least inexpensive way to significantly reduce the nation’s demand for imported and domestic oil and its greenhouse gas emissions without causing any loss of comfort or convenience.

“Energy efficiency reduces demand, and energy we do not use costs nothing, emits nothing and does not pollute the Gulf,” says Nobel Laureate Burton Richter, who chaired the APS energy efficiency study and authored the newly released book, Beyond Smoke and Mirrors: Climate Change and Energy in the 21st Century.

Numerous technologies already exist to increase the efficiency of U.S. vehicles and buildings that will save consumers money. But, as the panel’s report, Energy Future: Think Efficiency notes, realizing future gains, as with other energy technologies, will require a larger and better focused federal research and development program on energy efficiency than exists today.

The APS report also says that consumers often are not provided with information that allows them to make informed decisions on energy consumption. Energy and climate legislation should include a provision to help consumers save money by requiring energy audits at the point of sale for new homes. The audits would give home buyers valuable information regarding energy efficiency upgrades to lower their utility costs, the physicists add.

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