Energy 101
Thursday, January 25, 2007Had the pleasure of being at the National Press Club earlier this week to hear Red Cavaney, head of API, speak about energy. We actually heard him speak a few years back, stole a line from him then that we’ve used exhaustively — and one he reiterated this week, i.e., we are the only country in the world that limits access to its own natural resources.
In this age of fierce global competition, it’s nothing short of lunacy for us to continue to do that. How much of a limit do you think, e.g., China, India and Brazil are putting on their resources? If you guessed, “None”, you’re right.
In any event, Cavaney made some other very salient points. At core, it’s clear that the petroleum industry has some much-needed education to do with the Congress and the general public, but he is determined to make every effort to ramp up, and quickly. Some tidbits from Cavaney’s remarks:
Congress has already taken one boneheaded step with passage of H.R. 6 last week. If it became law (we surely hope it won’t), it would only drive up the price of gas and drive more production offshore — to nations friendly and unfriendly. The more Congress and the public understand about the economics of the industry, the less likely they are to do more damage.
Cavaney’s points are well-taken and should be repeated like a mantra in the media and in the halls of the Capitol. Maybe then politicians and policy-makers will decide to put the nation’s economic interests ahead of the cheap political ploy.