Rick Perry and Maximized US Fossil Fuel Energy Production
Rick Perry had his confirmation hearing today, with the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, to become Secretary of Energy. Oddly enough, behind his back, a transition group was meeting with the white house, and advertising cuts on clean energy, energy efficiency, the Paris Agreement on clean energy goals, and the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. This was reported on The Hill. We will deal with this first.
I looked up the Committee for a Balanced Federal Budget 2.0, 133 pages of suggested budget cuts by this think tank of about a dozen conservative Republicans. They used the same phrase that previous Gov. of Texas Perry used for energy sources “all of the above”. Both also spoke of letting the free market determine the energy sources. I am going to put together the hearing and the document to define these. A question was whether he would increase the exportable natural gas to 71%. He said he would if approved by Congress. It was pointed out that when Australia did this, the price tripled. So the US will soon export its natural gas that has been cheaper than coal and replacing it, leading to reduced US greenhouse gas emissions. To make up for this energy deficit, the US will now turn back to atmospheric and greenhouse gas polluting coal, as Trump has promised. The free market program means no support for green energy.
I think followers of the hearings probably thought that “all of the above” meant clean energy sources. The Committee above, on energy, called to eliminate the Clean Power Plan, which they could only estimate as saving $41 to $73 billion a year. They also wanted to eliminate all minimal funding programs for clean energy, like the DOE fossil energy program to reduce emissions from coal plants, worth $0.632 billion per year. They also include the valuable Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Program of $1.95 billion a year, and the advanced research ARPa-E for $0.291 billion a year. Add in the foreign aid Clean Technology Fund of $0.171 billion a year. It seems that the complete elimination of all clean energy is more doctrinaire than actual budget savings.
Back to poor Rick Perry. He actually was very prepared for Energy Secretary. He met with members of the department and put forth an attitude of protecting its scientists and its mission, but only able to admit that part of climate change is due to CO2 emissions. He also met with all members of the committee for longer discussions than the 10 minutes that the Senators could ask questions. He promised to visit their DOE facilities in their states. It seems that all members of the committee had been put there because they had DOE facilities in their states, and covered most of the DOE lab locations. The members supported both their fossil fuel production and their clean energy and DOE labs. As Texas governor, Perry supported both oil companies, and extensive wind power development there.
In nuclear waste disposal, Perry would not rule out the Yucca Mountain waste disposal site in Nevada, but said it had to be reviewed. Congress may pass a bill requiring that the state for waste disposal must approve of the facility being sited there. Nevada Senator, Democrat Catherine Cortez Masto, who replaced Harry Reid , said that 58% of Nevadans oppose the disposal facility. She is also the first Latina to serve in the Senate.
In a California note, we remember when Texas Gov. Rick Perry used to come to California to persuade our industries to move to Texas. Now, Perry has some influence in choosing where DOE money flows and facilities get sited.
We will be watching over the next few days and weeks as clean energy programs and regulations get massive cuts.
