"Re-Energize" America, Speaker Urges

"Re-Energize" America, Speaker Urges

by Miguel Hernandez
Newspaper Tree
April 28, 2006

The issues of global warming and U.S. foreign oil dependence have not been at the top of the nation's agenda, but they should be, because global warming and lack of alternative energy sources are putting the planet and our country at risk, speaker John Grant told college students at two events last week (April 26).

Grant's message, in speeches titled “Re-Energizing America: Solving America’s Oil Dependence Through Innovation,” was brought to El Paso by the Americans for Informed Democracy chapters of EPCC and UTEP.

Grant, the campaign manager for Re-Energize America, flew out from Washington D.C. to speak at the event as part of a two day tour of Southwest college campuses. The campaign is an extension of the Natural Resources Defense Council, an environmental activist group comprised of scientists and lawyers that calls its mission to inform the public and promote environment-conscious policies. [re-energize america] [nrdc]

Today’s massive carbon-energy emissions, primarily from coal-burning power plants and automobiles, create a thickening blanket of pollution over the earth, causing the heat from sunlight to become trapped within earth’s atmosphere, a process known as the "greenhouse effect" that Grant and many others believe “is drastically raising temperatures worldwide.”

He estimates that at century’s end, “earth’s average temperature will rise by three to nine degrees,” an abnormal increase when compared to the progression of prior temperature changes throughout earth’s climate history.

A dramatic rise in earth’s temperature has already occurred over the last 100 years. The 10 hottest years on record have all been since 1990, and the hottest ever was just last year.

Referencing scientific journals, Grant declared emergency: “the scientific community is unanimous on global warming and we need to act now before we create a crisis.”

He notes the alarming trend of ice sheets retreating the world over, from Mount Kilimanjaro in Africa to Greenland to the Polar Ice Caps; 10 percent of Greenland’s ice sheets have melted over the last 10 years. Grant claims that if this rate continues, “the whole of Greenland could melt within our lifetimes,” causing ocean waters to rise by 23 feet.

Other threats include hurricanes fueled by global warming; warming ocean waters make it easier for hurricanes to gain in intensity and lengthen the season under when they can form. And Grant spoke of mounting evidence that as global warming gets more severe, the planet will see an increase in heat waves, lower crop yields, and decrease the geographic range of forests. [climate crisis]

While Grant noted the general scientific consensus about global warming, there are skeptics who agree that though temperatures may be rising slightly, we still aren’t sure it’s due to human activity. They say the true cause may be a natural warming cycle; earth’s temperatures have shifted between extremes throughout its long history, with no help from man.

They argue that we’d be foolish to hurt our economy by reducing the consumption of oil and other fossil fuels, unsure of exactly what’s occurring. Such environmental advocacy groups as Re-Energize America, and the media, could harm the country by creating unwarranted hysteria, they argue. [post-intelligencer article] [the week magazine]

Though not everyone is on the same page regarding the natural occurrences attributed to global warming, most Americans do agree the country’s foreign oil dependence carries possibly far graver, and more immediate, political ramifications.

The United States has only 3 percent of global oil reserves, yet uses 25 percent of the global oil supply. This is more than China, Japan, Russia, Germany and India combined. We use 21 million barrels per day, whereas China uses 8 million, a distant second of the world’s top oil consumers. [advocacy group, set america free] www.setamericafree.org

A majority of earth’s oil reserves are found in the Middle East, where countries hostile to the U.S. threaten to throw our economy into chaos by withholding supply and increasing barrel prices on the world market, Grant said.

“There is a growing pragmatic consensus,” declared Grant, “we need to get off oil. Oil addiction is a national security issue and is a weapon for the U.S.’s enemies.”

While he conceded that not everyone is on the same policy vehicle, what’s important “is that it is being discussed. In his State of the Union speech, the President himself said that the U.S. is addicted to oil.”

A first step to take is to “renew Detroit.” American automobile companies need to find ways to make vehicles go further on less fuel and increase the research and development of hybrids and flexible fuel vehicles, Grant said. The federal government can provide tax credits and grants as incentives, he said.

A longer-term effort is for the U.S. to grow its own fuel. Gas-substitute biofuels are produced from plant product and can considerably lessen the amount of emissions over time. Corn ethanol, or E-85, is one such bio-fuel. It is already used to a great extent in Brazil, where pure ethanol and ethanol made from sugar cane supplies half the fuel needs of their vehicles. Switchgrass can also be harvested to produce ethanol and other biofuels at prices competitive with fossil fuels.

“Trying to bend the demand curve for oil down” is the most immediate goal of Re-Energize America, said Grant, who insisted that by “2050, we can use less oil than we do today.”

An example he championed is that if the automobile industry increased the gas mileage in SUV’s by one mile per year over the next five years, the U.S. would save 1 million barrels of oil per day.

He also stated that the process of coal gasification is being researched, which is a chemical process that breaks down coal and emits less carbon than heating methods. Gasification is being studied alongside a way to sequester carbon underground, keeping it out of the atmosphere. [u.s. doe gasification project]

America can also invest in smarter development patterns and build or expand cities with more comprehensive public transportation systems, Grant said.

Sophia Alonso, president of the University Democrats at UTEP and the speech’s coordinator, said “the speech raised awareness of the issue. [Grant] didn’t really give too many alternatives, but understanding assumes you need to take action.”

Whatever the solutions, the ultimate message of Grant and Re-Energize America is that American ingenuity can be our saving grace by simultaneously creating more jobs and “developing clean, safe, and efficient energy right here at home.”