On Friday of last week, ten Senators, five Democrats and five Republicans, announced that they had been working for two weeks on an energy policy, that would reduce the United States' dependency on foreign oil. The bill as outlined, contained specific points which would seem to greatly effect that change.
The policy would contain measures such as, allowing off shore drilling on the Eastern Coast, and more drilling, on the Gulf Coast. With the infrastructure, already in place in the Gulf Coast area, it will make it easier to get the oil to the refineries, according to the lawmakers. In addition, drilling would be allowed fifty miles, off the coast of Florida. Other states on the lower Eastern seaboard, would be allowed the option of drilling or not drilling. Re-cycling of nuclear energy into electrical power generation would be a part of the policy as well, as is, the consideration of the inclusion of more nuclear power plants. Automobiles with battery run engines and alternative fuel sources will be a consideration. Wind energy as a power source is also a major part of the policy. They will take a full inventory of where the American assets are located, to assess what is owned and what amount of revenue is being generated, versus what amount could be generated. In the past, it was thought the amount of revenue generated could possible be five billion dollars, when the actual assessment was made, it turned out to be thirty billion dollars. An assessment is warranted. New technology will also be used to find out where the new sources of energy are located. Automobiles, which will be lighter in weight, with consideration to safety, to benefit an increase in gas mileage, will be explored for development, in the future. Twenty billion dollars is needed to implement the policy as a start. The group known as The Energy and Natural Resources Committee, headed up by Senator Saxby Chambliss and Senator Kent Conrad also said that, there will be a proposal in the policy, to establish a National Commission on Energy Policy. The old energy policy will be replaced by this new energy policy. Section 99 of the Internal Revenue Tax Code will also be reviewed, as a part of the new policy.
The bill will be submitted for review and codification over the next thirty days. The committee, hopes to have a balanced energy policy, when everything is completed. The committee expects to have a full hearing on the bill by September.
Hopefully politics or extreme liberals won't ruin this. Just as most good things have been in the past.