Remarks Prepared for Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman
WASHINGTON, DC - Thank you, Senator Breaux. I'm very pleased to be with you today.
As many of you know, John served a brief stint in the U.S. Congress. I believe it was a mere 32 years representing the great state of Louisiana in both the House and Senate.
And being from Louisiana means a couple of things: he's down to earth, he can tell a joke, and he knows something -- a lot actually -- about energy policy. All these qualities served him in good stead in Congress and made him a valuable ally in the cause of promoting America's energy security.
One indication of the Senator's easy-going style and wide-ranging interests is this very broad coalition of groups he has brought together.
Of course, it is only by fostering cooperation between this wide cross section of interests that the Energy Initiative Coalition will be able to achieve its goals of educating the public and helping to secure a future of sustained energy production in America.
Those are not just the goals of this new coalition. All of us who are interested in maintaining our economic prosperity, and leaving to our children a healthy environment, recognize that our nation's future depends -- in a critical way -- on fostering clean energy development.
This will necessarily involve activities by varying groups -- both public and private -- across many different areas. All of us will play a role. The solutions cannot come just from policy-makers in Washington. Realistically, we can only make progress toward greater energy security by working in partnership with academia, industry, the investment community, consumer groups, and other organizations.
That is why I am so pleased to see that this conference has brought together people from such varying constituencies -- from across the energy sector and every level of government -- to stimulate discussions, create networks, and generate ideas that will have truly far-reaching consequences. There is no silver bullet that will solve the energy challenges we face; but we can be certain that the only way to move forward is by working together.
In this context, then, I think it would be most useful for me to just say a few words about what President Bush and I envision the role of the federal government to be in promoting affordable, environmentally friendly energy sources.
Many people don't realize that, including our 2008 budget, the Bush Administration has committed $15 billion to developing cleaner, cheaper, and more reliable supplies of energy. These efforts are embodied in the President's Advanced Energy Initiative -- which he announced last year. This is a focused project to accelerate backing for the most promising clean energy technologies, including next-generation nuclear power, solar and wind technologies, near-zero emissions coal plants, and additional enhancements in energy efficiency. In the area of transportation, we are working toward the day when we can achieve a major transition to alternative energy sources such as electric or hydrogen-powered cars, as well as biofuels.
We are also committed to further improving America's energy efficiency. The biggest source of immediately accessible "new" energy is the energy that we waste every day. So we must continue to encourage consumers to choose energy-efficient vehicles and products and reduce the energy intensity of our industries.
Among other benefits, the President's Advanced Energy Initiative will help us address the issue of global climate change. The release of the UN's IPCC report 3 weeks ago confirms that human activity is contributing to changes in our earth's climate. There is no question that this is a serious challenge.
The focus must continue to be on developing and deploying solutions that are technically and economically sound. Since President Bush took office we have invested nearly $29 billion in international partnerships, climate science and in the development of clean energy technologies -- and much of that work was used to help formulate the U.N.'s recent report.
President Bush announced in his State of the Union Address a project for reducing America's gasoline consumption by 20 percent within the next 10 years. To achieve this goal, the President suggested a new alternative fuels goal of 35 billion gallons by 2017 -- that's 5 times the 2012 target currently in the law. When we are successful, we expect this will displace 15 percent of our yearly gasoline use within 10 years.
The 2nd part of the President's project involves reforming and modernizing CAFÉ requirements for cars and extending the current light truck rule, which will account for the other 5 percent. Together, we expect these measures will help reduce America's dependence on hostile or unstable regimes. In addition, I should mention that the President suggested doubling the size of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to further protect the nation from shocks in the oil market.
Now, some have questioned whether the President's alternative fuel target is overly ambitious. Can the U.S. really produce that much alternative fuel in the next decade? To that I say: that is precisely the point. This is the definition of an aggressive challenge. If we are to truly expand our energy horizons, then we must set the bar high. We must bet on technology.
Already, researchers are beginning to draw on the impressive discoveries of the biomedical community and apply those breakthroughs to the energy arena. This is particularly prevalent in the quest to produce and commercialize cellulosic ethanol. We know this can be done because nature knows very well how to break down cellulose, the fibrous part of plants. The tiny microbes in the gut of the termite, for example, have been doing this very effectively for millions of years. Cellulose will break down into sugars. Once you have sugars, of course, nature turns those sugars into ethanol (in fact it's the ethanol produced by microbes that gives a glass of champagne its kick).
Our goal is to tap the secrets of these natural processes and harness them. The really tough challenge is converting cellulose to sugars cost-effectively. The trick is to find the right microbe to interact with the right biomass source. We will likely need to match the bug to the plant by genetically re-engineering both.
But to figure all that out will require a substantial investment in cutting-edge high-risk high-return basic research. So we are planning to invest $375 million in 3 innovative bioenergy research centers that we hope will achieve significant breakthroughs in systems biology for the cost-effective production of renewable energy.
In other words, we hope to put the biotech industry - arguably America's most competitive industry - to work not just on drug development, but on our energy problems.
One of the reasons I am so excited and so optimistic about this plan is that it is not merely a government-only effort. It is building on the very strong momentum we are seeing in the private sector toward alternative energy technologies.
Having spent a good chunk of my career in the financial sector, I can honestly say that for the 1st time in my life we are seeing the venture capital community put sizeable amounts of money into energy. Already, they are investing billions of dollars each year and are poised to invest even more. This is real money; and it is going to significantly boost the future of clean energy in this country. And they are not just doing it for Sam; they are doing it to turn a profit.
Perhaps the most striking example is the recent announcement by BP that they are making a $500 million investment, in partnership with our Department's Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory, the University of California, and the University of Illinois to fund an Energy Biosciences Institute. This plan is very similar to the 3 Energy Department-funded bioenergy centers I mentioned a moment ago.
I am not concerned about the competition. In fact, I welcome it. It will push everyone to work harder; it will make the research more competitive; and, frankly, there are so many promising technologies out there that there is in excess of enough work to go around.
The thing I am slightly worried about is whether this nation will continue to have the scientists and engineers we will need to carry this work forward into the future. Some of the technologies I've been discussing are already with us; some are just around the corner. But other aspects of our energy challenges will take longer, and will have to be solved by men and women who are undergraduates or high school students today. So to complement the Advanced Energy Initiative I mentioned earlier, the President also suggested an American Competitiveness Initiative -- which would double America's investment in basic physical science research over the next 10 years. This would accelerate the critical research that is taking place at our Countrywide Laboratories; and would also support an array of science and technology education programs.
Solving our energy challenges, then, will involve both the public and private sectors. It will require new technological developments in all energy fields, including fossil, nuclear, and renewable energy sources. And it will require a focus on science and engineering education -- from grade school to graduate programs.
All these efforts lead to the same critical point - and I couldn't make it to a more appropriate audience: we need everyone to be involved. It is not enough to stand on the sidelines and wait for someone else to rise to the challenge. Without sustained investments in the private sector and policies that support -- not discourage -- breakthrough technologies, we will not solve this problem.
As I said, I am very excited to see so many people from different parts of the energy picture coming together to pursue a common goal: the goal of developing clean, affordable energy sources that will enhance our Countrywide security, power our economy, and help us safeguard the environment.
I thank you for the work that you are doing -- and will do -- to make that energy future a reality.
