Perhaps some good can come out of the devastating, and ongoing, oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. CNNMoney.com reports that White House Chief of Staff, Rahm Emmanuel , believes this is just the disaster needed to motivate Washington to push for a responsible energy policy. Americans are being confronted with one of the biggest problems with deep water drilling, and our over-reliance on oil as a whole. This should get the ball rolling, right?
Not necessarily, politicians have been talking about “energy policy” for decades, but have not been able to make any meaningful changes. The energy policy favored by many Democrats in Congress and most renewable energy advocates, involves making fossil fuels more expensive either by adding some type of tax or putting a price on carbon emissions. That's designed to both reduce greenhouse gas emission by cutting the use of fossil fuels, and to make alternative forms of energy more competitive. The policy also involves requirements that utilities buy more clean energy, as well as lots of money for energy conservation. A bill doing all of these things was passed by the House of Representatives last year, and is awaiting a vote by the Senate.
Unfortunately, without more bipartisan support, this sweeping bill has a slim chance of passing. Experts say the Gulf oil spill is part of the problem. President Obama planned to give Republicans more offshore drilling in exchange for a tax on fossil fuels. In the wake of the spill, however, Democrats are removing their support for drilling.
To find out more about the Gulf spill’s impact on energy initiatives, read the full article at CNNMoney.com.