Energy Policy Regardless of the energy source, the government wants to control your energy use!  Whether it is oil for the automobile or electricity for our homes, the current Congress is attempting to put legistlation in place to punish your energy use; this legislation is called 'Cap and Trade'.  It has more accurately been dubbed 'Cap and Tax'. Since the 1960s, the environmentalists have railed against every kind of energy...oil, coal, nuclear, etc.  We all want a clean environment, but we also need energy.  If we relied on the environmentalists, we would be using candle power in our homes at night.  Their latest argument: global warming is man-made.  However, man-made global warming is just the latest excuse to be able to tell you how to live.  The theory has come crashing down.  We have all seen the recent uncovering of the blatant attempt at 'lying' to bolster the 'man-made global warming theory' because the evidence certainly does not back up the 'theory'.  But they want to turn our culture back 200 years and they will stop at nothing to do so.  They will not let facts get in the way. Even with the latest crumbling of global warming theory, the liberals march on.  This is what it will mean to you in real terms:  To meet the Obama administration’s targets for cutting greenhouse gas emissions, some researchers say, in order to reach that goal, Americans may have to experience a sobering reality: gas at $7 a gallon.  Our current Administration and Congress is well on it's way to setting the amount of energy each and every one of us can use. Since when is it the under the President's authority to tell us how much we will pay for gasoline and how much we will use! Read more about $7 gasoline... Energy is not scarce and we should be able to deliver low cost energy to Americans without government interference.  Looking at renewable forms of energy is a good thing.  However, we must recognize that renewable forms of energy are not quite ready to replace fossil fuels.  We should definitely do the research and diversify our energy portfolio.  But to exclude fossil fuels strictly based on based bad science for renewable energy only is bad policy.  This type of policy will hit you in the pocket book and adversely affects the poor more than it does the well off in our society. And we cannot forget the push for green jobs: Read Heritage on why green jobs may not be as good as advertised... Let's start with Electricity Coal- The United States has the largest coal reserves in the world.  It is estimated that we have a 250 year supply of recoverable coal here in our own country.  Coal has come a long way to becoming a much cleaner energy and we are sitting well.  Our liberal friends ignore the facts about the newer clean-coal technologies that will allow this to be a viable and clean source of energy for the next 250 years.  The liberals still say no to coal. Read a few facts about coal... Nuclear- Nuclear power accounts for about 19% of the total electricity generated in the United States and 15.7% of the worlds electricity.  The U.S. has 104 commercial nuclear generating units in the United States today and is a low cost form of energy for our homes.  There are virtually no greenhouse gas emissions and takes up substantially less land that all other forms of energy production.  But most liberals still say no to nuclear. Read a few facts about nuclear... Hydropower- is the most significant renewable energy source that does not pollute the environment and is competitive with fossil fuels.  It is the least expensive renewable resource in the U.S.  It provides about 70% of the electricity in the Northwestern states while accounting for about 7% of total electricity used in the U.S.  It accounts for about 30% of the worlds electricity use.  Liberals still say no to hydropower. Read a few facts about hydropower... A Quick Review on Renewables Wind- Wind energy is a clean and renewable form of energy, however, it has had its drawbacks.  It accounts for about 1% of U.S. electrical needs and cannot be expected to supply all of our electricity nees. It you have driven on I-80 from Omaha to Des Moines, you can see how the massive wind farms overtake the landscape.  It's amazing how liberals complain about ruining the beauty of the landscape for other forms of energy production such as coal but they ignore the ugliness of wind farms.  Ted Kennedy stated that he didn't want the ocean wind farms off his vacation property because of their unsightly nature.  Communities near wind farms in Arizona have complained about the high noise frequency of nearby wind farms and some have been forced to move farther away.  There have also been major issues with the reliability of wind energy because of the natural variability of wind.  There are high construction costs and the places that are most conducive to wind energy is where pollution is not an issue.  The long-term viability of wind energy is in doubt.  Wind farms leave a major imprint on the landscape and are unreliable.  Wind energy usage is expanding but the jury is still out on this renewable source of energy. Solar- Solar energy accounts for about 1% of U.S. energy needs and is a clean renewable energy source.  The drawback is that energy produced by solar is twice as expensive as electricity from fossil fuels in addition to only operating during daylight hours.  Sunlight varies considerably as a result in cloud cover, latitude, and with the seasons.  The amount of land usage to produce a large amount of solar energy is also a drawback.  Solar energy has been around for decades now and has yet to come to market at an economically competitive price. Biomass- Biofuels are liquid fuels produced from plants and the most common types are ethanol and biodiesel.  The majority of ethanol produced in the U.S. is from corn.  The major drawback to this type of fuel as we've seen in the last few years is the availability of the product and the rise in food prices.  What happens in a bad crop year?  The price of both food and fuel could skyrocket.  To be produced on a mass scale, many liberals do worry about the negative impact on land and wildlife habitat.  While other forms have been successfully used on a smaller scale such as in Brazil, to replace the U.S. fuel needs strictly with biofuels would have a major impact on U.S. farming and world food prices. Back to America's Biggest Challenges...