SUMMER 2008     

Breaking America’s oil addiction
Is your candidate operating in a 21st-century reality?
by Michael Noble, executive director

Michael Noble

On the eve of the 2000 election, oil was at $34 a barrel, and that seemed expensive at the time. As I write this eight years later, oil is hovering at $140 a barrel, and Goldman Sachs has warned we should expect $200 within 6 to 24 months.

Back then, our leaders had every reason to know that discoveries of oil were declining as global demand sharply increased. This time around, voters should pay close attention to where candidates stand on our country’s relationship with oil.

MAKING STRIDES IN THE MIDWEST
Fresh Energy has made reducing oil dependence a key focus in 2008. We backed the successful legislative effort to win a new source of funding for metro area transit and improved bus service for regional population centers. We came within a whisker of passing a law requiring higher efficiency cars that would meet strong emission standards. We supported a law advancing biofuels produced from grasses and perennial crops.

And we’ve hired Lynne Bly to head our Transportation Policy program (read more about Bly in Transportation Policy). She brings decades of transportation planning expertise to Fresh Energy from running her own consulting firm and working at the Metropolitan Council and the Department of Transportation, where she was the senior planner for the state’s transportation investments.

LEADERS FOR THE FUTURE
As you consider the political candidates’ energy platforms, keep these things in mind. Beware of subsidies for finding the last vestiges of oil on the planet—typically the dirtiest and most carbon-intensive forms like tar sands and oil shale. Beware of gimmicks like tax holidays, offshore drilling or drilling in ANWR. (The Department of Energy estimates that opening ANWR to drilling would reduce the current price of oil by only 1 percent by 2027.)

Instead, look for solutions that electrify our transportation system—high speed intercity rail, light rail, and plug-in cars. Look for investment in biofuels that do not use virgin land or compete with food acreage, but produce energy from grasses, brush, even algae. Look for government policy innovations that spur automotive engineering innovations, like highly efficient cars that run on cleaner fuels. Look for better land use and community design plans that decrease dependence on cars.

We need leaders who will rise to this urgent challenge. The status quo is no longer adequate. But real solutions exist, and we must demand action by our leaders. Here in Minnesota, many energy-independence policy measures were recommended by Governor Pawlenty’s Minnesota Climate Change Advisory Group, convened to recommend global warming solutions. With strong leadership and smart policy, I’m certain that Minnesota and the country can rise to this challenge.