Upsetting article - US Energy Bills Could Cost Economy $1 trillion by 2030

[Belén Gallego]

What a surprise- oil companies are commissioning reports that say that renewable energies will cost the economy a lot- where have I heard that before? I am upset at this kind of attack time and time again - not to CSP in particular but for renewable energy. The way I see it, the oil industry can no longer count on their lobbying to keep the money flowing, so they are now trying to move the public opinion "comissioning reports" And everything to avoid one thing - the removal of the tax breaks that allow them to become a lot cheaper than the other renewables. Sincerely hope that all tax breaks are removed for the oil and gas... US Energy Bills Could Cost Economy $1 Trillion By 2030 - Industry Study

WASHINGTON -(Dow Jones)- Nov 13

Energy legislation under consideration in Congress could cost the U.S. economy up to $1 trillion in lost economic output and five million jobs, according to a study funded by the oil industry and released Tuesday. The report - funded by the American Petroleum Institute and produced by CRA International - said the net impact of the energy bills could cause a 4% slowdown in the country's economic growth. "This legislation would put consumers in a squeeze," David Montgomery, vice president of CRA's energy and environmental practice, said in a statement. House and Senate Democrat leaders are currently trying to combine two different energy packages that would increase cars' fuel economy standards and boost energy efficiency, renewable fuels and renewable energy. One of the packages proposes axing tax breaks to the oil and gas industry to fund growth in renewables. The API-funded report said the petroleum refining, transport, utility and energy-intensive manufacturing sectors would be adversely impacted by the legislation. "The combined effect of these legislative provisions would be to simultaneously decrease the supply and increase the costs of energy supplies to the U.S. economy," the report said.

[Tony Griffiths]

I work in the oil industry, and my experience is that the lack of progress on renewable energy sources here is not a result of anything sinister (well not in the companies I have worked with anyway), but a genuine lack of understanding of what's outside of our 'core business', an ingrained inability to adopt new ideas/ technologies, and a lacking of good people that are able to look at things in a different light and adopt new strategies as the world changes.
As our industry uses so much energy in extracting resources, then of course at a time when fuel prices are high, the use of renewable (eg solar) energy would be of huge benefit to us by way of fuel savings/ additional sales revenue/ $$$ profit. But it just isn't happening for the reasons I mentioned above, although our company has looked at options for using solar energy to raise steam for steam-flood EOR.
Maybe I am being naive but the reality is that the oil industry is a technically complex and manpower-intensive industry, with a blinkered focus on what has been done before, and it doesn't help that ignorance/ incompetence levels are disturbingly high..
I reckon that with the sustained high oil prices, you'll see the oil industry slowly and cautiously recognise that using renewables to meet their own energy needs can have a great business case.

[Michael Boyter]

The largest industry in the world, is the fossil fuel industry. Since the beginning of civilization man has been burning coal. With the widespread use of oil, the stage was set to make the biggest industry, and global corporate structure, in the world. The power these people possess to control, governments, and the worlds economy, are beyond belief. The problem lays in the fact
that the desire for complete power, and financial control, have grown completely out of control. . These industry heads will do anything to hold on to this power.. So now we have a state of every growing war without end, complete and total disregard for the health of our planet, and all life on it.
Clean free Solar Energy, is the Key to saving civilization. Unfortunately these corrupt corporations see it as a threat to their power. This is why, we must continue to push for the true facts about Global Warming and Fossil Fuel Addiction (FFA), to be known by the public, Socrates was right, many decades ago. "Absolute Power Corrupts Absolutely" The oil industry has absolute power over the planet. If Earth is to survive, the move must be made to Clean, Free, Solar Energy. We must loose our dependence on fossil fuels. We all have the obligation to our children, to flush out the corrupt ones, who, endanger our planets health, for their personal gain. We must support knowledge of the facts, and promote the latest in solar technology if we are to be successful in bringing back our planets health, from the point of no return. Have we already reached that point? Only time will tell, but if we continue to work for our goals, the future of this Green World Earth, will be bright. Together with the latest revolutionary advances in Solar technology, from companies like, Cool Earth Solar, and Nanosolar, with the help of the Concentrated Solar Industry, we can have the opportunity to once again have a planet, and civilizations that can prosper, and grow, in harmony with our mother, Planet Earth.

[Allen]

As of Jan 1, 2007, the world's 'known' oil reserves were estimated to be 1.317 trillion barrels, at the projected 2030 consumption rate (120 mbpd) this would yield approx. 30 years of supply. Sure more reserves may be found but we cannot continue banking our futures on this uncertainty and we certainly should not allow fear to guide our actions. Now is the time to step up. Is the Energy bill perfect? far from it. Is it a step in the right direction, definitely. The Oil industry needs to take note of their finite resource and help the US/World plan for the future, not hinder it.

Jobs will transition to new industries. Life will go on.

The only way we can meet the targets set in this Bill is through research and development of Renewable Energies. This will require adequate funding and appropriate incentives from the government as well as motivated individual, companies like us to push the comfort zone of the rest of the world...

[Belén Gallego]

I agree with what you are saying. It is just that, from my point of view, they are trying to scare the American people onto rejecting renewable energy - and that is where i get touchy. One thing is to defend what is theirs, another is to manipulate the people into believing something that is not true.

[Heikki Willstedt]

The Petroleum Institute is just doing its job: defending the subventions aquired by the oil and other fossil fuel industry. But with the barrel of oil at about 100 USD it doesn´t make much sense. They actually should be happy that other energies might extend a little bit longer the supply of oil, otherwise the shift to renewable energies might suddenly become a vital necessity instead of happening with a "soft landing" of the "oil society".