October 2011 Archives

What energy and environment policies are at stake in the deficit debates now dominating Washington?

The congressional super committee is trying to come up with a package by Thanksgiving that trims the federal deficit by at least $1.2 trillion over 10 years. While the 12-member bipartisan committee's negotiations are being kept under a tight lid, possible targets for cuts range from oil and gas tax breaks to Environmental Protection Agency programs.

What impact do you anticipate the super committee's proposal could have on energy and environment issues? What policies should the committee look to cut--and protect? What policies, if any, do you think Congress should bolster funds for? How has the political and policy landscape changed since we asked about the spending debate in July?

9 responses: Matthew Stepp, Peter Iwanowicz, Bill Meadows, Lance Brown, Amy Harder, Bob Bendick, William O'Keefe, Josh Freed, Brent Erickson

Is the United States losing to countries like China in the global race to develop clean-energy technologies?

One top House Republican, Cliff Stearns of Florida, suggested that America has already lost. He told NPR earlier this month, "We can't compete with China to make solar panels and wind turbines." Last week, a coalition of U.S.-based solar manufacturers filed official complaints with the Obama administration and the International Trade Commission alleging that China is illegally subsidizing renewable-energy products and effectively gutting America's solar-energy industry.

The downfall of Solyndra, the federally backed solar manufacturer that is now at the heart of an FBI investigation and a congressional probe led by Stearns, has thrust to the forefront a debate over America's place in the global clean-energy race. Energy analysts say Solyndra's photovoltaic solar panels, which did not use silicon, could not compete with cheap silicon panels from China.

Is Stearns right when he says the United States can't compete with China on wind and solar technologies? What can Congress and the Obama administration do to spur development of domestic clean energies? What should the private sector do? How have things changed since we last asked this question in August 2010?

25 responses: Steve Bolze, Gary Fazzino, Gary Fazzino, Brian Murray, Brian Murray, Jesse Jenkins, Marlo Lewis, Phyllis Cuttino, Douglas Holtz-Eakin, William O'Keefe, Rhone Resch, Bill Dickenson, David Kreutzer, Guy Morgan, Andrea Luecke, Amy Harder, David Holt, Denise Bode, Armond Cohen, Josh Freed, Carl Pope, Brent Erickson, Allen Schaeffer, Scott Sklar, Tom Wolf

Editors note: This week, Sen. Mark Begich, D-Alaska, is providing the question.

The summer of 2011 marked the second-lowest ice coverage on record for the Arctic Ocean. As permafrost thaws and sea ice retreats, storm waves are eroding shorelines of Alaska coastal villages. A changing climate is also shifting fishing grounds and wildlife migration routes. Rural Alaskans, largely dependent on subsistence hunting and fishing and resource development, are hard-pressed to meet the financial challenges of repairing or adding new roads, ports, harbors, and other community infrastructure.

With these challenges also comes opportunity. The reduced ice pack is opening new polar shipping routes which could cut distances between Europe and Asia by 40 percent. Arctic shipping is already on the increase, and scientists predict ice-free Arctic shipping routes in summers in just a few decades.

Additionally, higher prices and retreating sea ice make production of oil and gas from the Arctic practical and profitable. The first-ever Arctic-wide oil and gas assessment suggests it holds 13 percent of the world's undiscovered oil and 30 percent of its undiscovered natural gas. Alaska's Chukchi and Beaufort seas hold 26 billion barrels of oil and 100 trillion cubic feet of natural gas, according to the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management.

The U.S. is not alone on this stage. Seven other nations hold territory in the Arctic, and all are coping with these problems and jockeying for advantage in exploiting the Arctic's resources. Even non-Arctic nations, including China, have taken notice. Is the U.S. prepared to face this century of change in the Arctic?

10 responses: Amy Harder, David Holt, Mark Begich, Marilyn Heiman, Frances Beinecke, Jennifer Morgan, Cindy Shogan, Denise Bode, William O'Keefe, Conrad Schneider

What environmental, economic, and political factors should the Obama administration consider as it decides whether to approve a controversial pipeline project that would transport Canadian crude oil to the United States?

The State Department has said it will decide by the end of this year whether the 1,700-mile, $7 billion Keystone XL pipeline project is in the national interest. If it moves forward, it could eventually bring 700,000 barrels of tar-sands oil daily from Canada to Texas.

In recent weeks, the State Department held a series of public hearings on the project in states where the pipeline would cross and finally in Washington, D.C., to help evaluate whether the pipeline is in the country's interest. Some Congressional Democrats and environmental groups say recently released e-mails suggest an overly friendly relationship between a key State Department official and a lobbyist for TransCanada, the company seeking to build the pipeline. Critics say the e-mails cast doubt on the State Department's neutrality.

How should the administration address concerns about the environmental impact of producing oil sands? Will the pipeline be an economic boom, as industry groups supporting the project predict? If the United States doesn't import Canada's oil sands, will it make a difference, environmentally, since China and other countries may take the oil? What are the political implications for President Obama? And how have things changed since we last asked this question in May and in August 2010?

11 responses: Michael Brune, Jack Gerard, Frances Beinecke, Brigham McCown, Gene Karpinski, Tom Wolf, Bill Snape, David Holt, Bernard L. Weinstein, Charles Drevna, William O'Keefe

Should the Obama administration green light drilling in the Arctic Ocean off Alaska's coast?

Shell Oil is inching closer to completing a lengthy regulatory process with both state and federal agencies to drill exploratory wells in the Chukchi and Beaufort seas off Alaska's north coast. The company could begin drilling as soon as next summer.

What factors should the administration consider when deciding whether to give Shell final approval to search for oil in the Arctic? What lessons have the United States learned from the BP oil spill that could inform its decision on Arctic drilling? What, if anything, should Congress do to influence the process?

17 responses: Scott Sklar, Marvin Odum, Gene Karpinski, Jamie Rappaport Clark, Frances Beinecke, Marilyn Heiman, Bill Meadows, David Holt, Amy Harder, William O'Keefe, Douglas Holtz-Eakin, Paul Sullivan, Cindy Shogan, Kathleen Sgamma, Amy Harder, Robbie Diamond, Bill Snape