Panel: Spend Billions on Energy Research, Projects

Panel: Spend Billions on Energy Research, Projects

Dec 10 - Cincinnati Post

U.S. energy policy over the long term will require new nuclear power plants, cleaner coal and cars that get more miles per gallon, experts said Wednesday.

They also said mandatory federal programs are needed to address climate change and scaled back the expected growth of greenhouse gases. The Bush administration has asserted that voluntary action by industry will do the job and opposes government-imposed rules.

The Commission on Energy Policy, a privately funded group, said in its report the government should spend billions of dollars on energy research and projects, including the development of a next- generation nuclear power reactors.

William Reilly, one of the commission's leaders, said any national energy policy must address climate change and propose mandatory emission requirements because "the long-term risks are real."

The commission sought a middle course between the administration's voluntary program and demands by environmentalists and some members of Congress for required cuts in greenhouse emissions along the lines outlined by a 1997 international agreement known as the Kyoto Treaty.

A mandatory program that focused at first on checking the growth of greenhouse gases was viewed as "a meaningful first step," said Reilly, former head of the Environmental Protection Agency.

The proposal would offer a way to cap the cost of required emission reductions.

The recommendations from a commission whose members are energy experts, industry executives, labor leaders and former government officials are not binding on President Bush or Congress. But they could help move along the debate about the country's energy policy, which has stalled in Congress over the past four years.

The commission urged a larger federal role in developing cleaner sources of energy and said the government should double the amount of money spent on research and development. The experts said Congress should "significantly strengthen" the standards for vehicles' fuel efficiency so the U.S. could reduce its oil consumption.

Commission member Susan Tierney, an energy consultant and former assistant energy secretary in the Clinton administration, said improvements in fuel economy must be a "a centerpiece" of an energy agenda.

The commission recommended expanded development of coal, natural gas and nuclear power to help the United States move toward energy security.

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