An Energy Plan that Works for Michigan

 Energy is the lifeblood of our economy.  It powers our homes, industries, vehicles, and everything from the iPods in our pockets to the backyard grill.   We need a balanced energy plan that plays to our nation’s – and Michigan’s – strengths.

Of course, we need robust oil and gas production in this country.  But that is happening now.  Domestic oil production is at an 18-year high, and U.S. natural gas production is at an all-time high.  Net oil imports have fallen from 57 percent in 2008 to 45 percent today.  And the Administration continues to make millions of acres of public lands available for oil and gas development.  Indeed, oil and gas companies are sitting on nearly two-thirds of public lands they have leased. 

But drilling will only get us so far.  The U.S. consumes 22 percent of the world’s oil, yet we produce only a fraction of that here at home.  Also, oil is not without environmental problems as we saw two years ago in the massive Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico and the 2010 Enbridge Pipeline spill that fouled the Kalamazoo River with more than 19,000 barrels of oil.

So we also need to drill into our vast reserves of American ingenuity and develop technologies that allow us to use less energy.  Since 70 percent of the oil we consume every year goes for transportation, increasing vehicle fuel economy over time can have a real impact on both U.S. energy security and consumer’s wallets.

In 2011, the federal government and the auto industry agreed to boost the average fuel economy of cars and light trucks to 54 mpg by 2025.  These new standards will cut our oil dependence, reducing oil consumption by an estimated 2.2 million barrels a day in 2025.  Meeting this goal plays to Michigan’s strengths in vehicle design and manufacturing.

Tomorrow’s energy will increasingly come from the sun, wind, biofuels, hybrid technology, and other resources we are just beginning to harness.  Governments in China, Japan, Korea and other countries are racing to help their own industries dominate these areas.  The U.S. can’t afford to fall behind.  As just one example, most of the advanced battery technology was actually invented in the United States.  The battery manufacturing jobs should be here, too.