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Houston stands on the front line of energy policy
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By JENNIFER SUMMER and RYAN HICKMAN
When presidential candidates joust over energy policy during their campaigns, no part of the country is more intrigued than the Greater Houston area, long known as the world’s energy capital.
There has been a political consensus, though, that the focus on energy should be the attempt to lower American dependence on gasoline, mostly for transportation, and the import dollars the country is sending to foreign countries for the costly resource.
However, the real political debate comes in the strategies to wean Americans off petroleum, how best to reduce other forms of energy that are becoming more and more costly and the sources of energy that will take the lead in the future.
With so many companies, jobs and interests tied to energy in Houston, the financial, social, foreign policy and political ramifications of energy are felt right here as the home of oil and gas is also becoming the front line on energy policy.
Ken Medlock, an energy fellow at Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy and economics professor, said that a quick fix, all-your-eggs-in-one-basket silver bullet approach to energy is unrealistic.
“The first thing that you have to realize is that we are very dependent on coal, crude oil and natural gas and that’s not going to change quickly,” he said.
All of the capital investment tied up in those resources would have to be abandoned to adopt a different fuel, he continued.
“It’s not easy to change things in 10 years as has been the latest and greatest rallying cry,” Medlock said.
He explained his ideal game plan for the issue by comparing energy to an apple orchard.
Comparing apples to energy and the trees as different sources of energy, Medlock said it’s important to focus on the low-hanging fruit first.
He said if the country worries about climbing up higher and higher into only one tree, or source of energy, it will cost increasingly more than just walking through the orchard and utilizing the reachable and available resources.
“If you pick from every tree, you talk about off shore drilling, wind power, nuclear power, ethanol ... it’s much more reasonable and doable,” Medlock said. “If you focus on a single option, your chances of success are less. It’s the story of diversification.”
Medlock explained that even if these newer forms of energy aren’t being harvested in Houston, their base of operations are in the city.
“If you are an oil company and don’t embrace that tenet, you will go away,” he said. “Houston has a lot to offer.”
ExxonMobil, a company with many of its operations spread throughout Houston and 16,000 employees in the area, is becoming more familiar with extending its energy portfolio.
Tony Cudmore, a spokesman for the company in Dallas, said that even though traditional energy sources such as oil, natural gas and coal continue to account for 80 percent of the world’s energy sources, ExxonMobil is coming at energy policy in two ways: supporting breakthrough research projects and looking at how various alternative energy options that can be practical on a global scale.
“We expect by 2030 that wind and solar power will account for about 1 percent of energy demand,” Cudmore said in a phone interview last week. “But that 1 percent is still a big number and will grow very rapidly to get there.”
One of the most ambitious current wind power plans started in Texas by oilman T. Boone Pickens.
The Pickens Plan was founded as a blueprint to reduce foreign oil dependence by harnessing domestic energy alternatives and buying time for the United States to develop even greater new technologies.
The plan calls for building new wind generation facilities that will produce 20 percent of the nation’s electricity and allow the U.S. to use natural gas as a transportation fuel.
As a supporter of the Pickens Plan, Kingwood resident Hal Opperman believes the outline of the initiative is headed in the right direction.
“I do not support the United States exporting oil from countries that do not support us,” Opperman said. “I would much rather have ExxonMobil or Shell or any of the larger oil companies making the decisions.”
Opperman is a former ExxonMobil employee and has been a longtime volunteer with the local environmentally-conscious group Keep Kingwood Green.
“I do believe that America will reach a point where we can get to using alternative fuels and I fully support that, but I do not think that we are there yet in regards to the technology that is required,” Opperman said.
Some of the research and development for new technology is happening in Houston by ExxonMobil, which is integrating new chemical innovations into its focus on low emission energy technology.
ExxonMobil’s chemical headquarters is in Houston and the company is developing tire liners in Katy that will keep tires inflated longer and in turn maximize a vehicle’s efficiency, Cudmore said.
A facility in Baytown is developing a lithium ion battery film that will up the heat tolerance capability of the high-efficiency batteries to boost their use in hybrid cars.
“We’ve invested $1.5 billion in these low emissions and alternative energy technologies since 2004,” Cudmore said. “And over the next few years we expect to spend another half billion dollars.”
It’s the private innovation that Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama has played off of in his energy policy. He has said he will create more green jobs by strategically investing $150 billion over the next 10 years to promote private efforts to build a clean energy.
Cudmore said that ExxonMobil does have a political action committee, which raises and distributes political contributions, but doesn’t back a presidential candidate financially.
“It’s a long-standing policy that we don’t contribute to presidential campaigns,” he said.
ExxonMobil also doesn’t get into the political policies of candidates either, Cudmore said.
But the company’s outlook on offshore drilling falls in line with the GOP and John McCain’s call of “Drill, baby, drill.”
“We feel there are many areas offshore in the U.S. that are currently closed to the oil and gas industry activity and those areas could be very helpful in terms of helping to meet U.S. energy demand,” Cudmore said.
ENERGY GIVES BACK
Locally, the North Harris/ Montgomery County Desk & Derrick Club is an educational group aimed at individuals in the community who are affiliated with the petroleum energy and allied industries that stays away from political discussions.
But they do make sure to point out how important the oil and gas industry is for the local community.
“The oil and gas industry is one of the biggest economic boosters especially for Texas and our community,” club President Elaine Krueger said. “Funds from some of the major oil and gas corporations in our community go to the public school system which helps our children.”
The NHMC Desk & Derrick Club works to educate members about the different professions there are in the oil and gas industry and make sure members are well versed in the variety of different sections in each company.
“There are a lot of people throughout the community that either work or know someone that works for an oil and gas company so they are very important and prevalent to our community,” Krueger said.
And as energy policy goes on the national level and in the presidential race, so does the Houston area.
JOHN MCCAIN
Expand domestic oil and natural gas exploration and production.
Break dependency on foreign oil by reforming transportation sector.
Invest in clean, alternative sources of energy.
-from www.johnmccain.com
Barack Obama
Provide short-term relief to American families facing pain at the pump.
Ensure 10 percent of our electricity comes from renewable sources by 2012, and 25 percent by 2025.
Create more green jobs by strategically investing $150 billion over the next 10 years to catalyze private efforts to build a clean energy future.
-from www.barakobama.com
The Observer’s series leading up to Election Day continues looking into the major presidential issues from a local perspective. As the series progresses, we want to hear from you about your thoughts on energy policy or any other topic you think is important. Send your thoughts by e-mail to observereditor@hcnonline.com.
There has been a political consensus, though, that the focus on energy should be the attempt to lower American dependence on gasoline, mostly for transportation, and the import dollars the country is sending to foreign countries for the costly resource.
However, the real political debate comes in the strategies to wean Americans off petroleum, how best to reduce other forms of energy that are becoming more and more costly and the sources of energy that will take the lead in the future.
With so many companies, jobs and interests tied to energy in Houston, the financial, social, foreign policy and political ramifications of energy are felt right here as the home of oil and gas is also becoming the front line on energy policy.
Ken Medlock, an energy fellow at Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy and economics professor, said that a quick fix, all-your-eggs-in-one-basket silver bullet approach to energy is unrealistic.
“The first thing that you have to realize is that we are very dependent on coal, crude oil and natural gas and that’s not going to change quickly,” he said.
All of the capital investment tied up in those resources would have to be abandoned to adopt a different fuel, he continued.
“It’s not easy to change things in 10 years as has been the latest and greatest rallying cry,” Medlock said.
He explained his ideal game plan for the issue by comparing energy to an apple orchard.
Comparing apples to energy and the trees as different sources of energy, Medlock said it’s important to focus on the low-hanging fruit first.
He said if the country worries about climbing up higher and higher into only one tree, or source of energy, it will cost increasingly more than just walking through the orchard and utilizing the reachable and available resources.
“If you pick from every tree, you talk about off shore drilling, wind power, nuclear power, ethanol ... it’s much more reasonable and doable,” Medlock said. “If you focus on a single option, your chances of success are less. It’s the story of diversification.”
Medlock explained that even if these newer forms of energy aren’t being harvested in Houston, their base of operations are in the city.
“If you are an oil company and don’t embrace that tenet, you will go away,” he said. “Houston has a lot to offer.”
ExxonMobil, a company with many of its operations spread throughout Houston and 16,000 employees in the area, is becoming more familiar with extending its energy portfolio.
Tony Cudmore, a spokesman for the company in Dallas, said that even though traditional energy sources such as oil, natural gas and coal continue to account for 80 percent of the world’s energy sources, ExxonMobil is coming at energy policy in two ways: supporting breakthrough research projects and looking at how various alternative energy options that can be practical on a global scale.
“We expect by 2030 that wind and solar power will account for about 1 percent of energy demand,” Cudmore said in a phone interview last week. “But that 1 percent is still a big number and will grow very rapidly to get there.”
One of the most ambitious current wind power plans started in Texas by oilman T. Boone Pickens.
The Pickens Plan was founded as a blueprint to reduce foreign oil dependence by harnessing domestic energy alternatives and buying time for the United States to develop even greater new technologies.
The plan calls for building new wind generation facilities that will produce 20 percent of the nation’s electricity and allow the U.S. to use natural gas as a transportation fuel.
As a supporter of the Pickens Plan, Kingwood resident Hal Opperman believes the outline of the initiative is headed in the right direction.
“I do not support the United States exporting oil from countries that do not support us,” Opperman said. “I would much rather have ExxonMobil or Shell or any of the larger oil companies making the decisions.”
Opperman is a former ExxonMobil employee and has been a longtime volunteer with the local environmentally-conscious group Keep Kingwood Green.
“I do believe that America will reach a point where we can get to using alternative fuels and I fully support that, but I do not think that we are there yet in regards to the technology that is required,” Opperman said.
Some of the research and development for new technology is happening in Houston by ExxonMobil, which is integrating new chemical innovations into its focus on low emission energy technology.
ExxonMobil’s chemical headquarters is in Houston and the company is developing tire liners in Katy that will keep tires inflated longer and in turn maximize a vehicle’s efficiency, Cudmore said.
A facility in Baytown is developing a lithium ion battery film that will up the heat tolerance capability of the high-efficiency batteries to boost their use in hybrid cars.
“We’ve invested $1.5 billion in these low emissions and alternative energy technologies since 2004,” Cudmore said. “And over the next few years we expect to spend another half billion dollars.”
It’s the private innovation that Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama has played off of in his energy policy. He has said he will create more green jobs by strategically investing $150 billion over the next 10 years to promote private efforts to build a clean energy.
Cudmore said that ExxonMobil does have a political action committee, which raises and distributes political contributions, but doesn’t back a presidential candidate financially.
“It’s a long-standing policy that we don’t contribute to presidential campaigns,” he said.
ExxonMobil also doesn’t get into the political policies of candidates either, Cudmore said.
But the company’s outlook on offshore drilling falls in line with the GOP and John McCain’s call of “Drill, baby, drill.”
“We feel there are many areas offshore in the U.S. that are currently closed to the oil and gas industry activity and those areas could be very helpful in terms of helping to meet U.S. energy demand,” Cudmore said.
ENERGY GIVES BACK
Locally, the North Harris/ Montgomery County Desk & Derrick Club is an educational group aimed at individuals in the community who are affiliated with the petroleum energy and allied industries that stays away from political discussions.
But they do make sure to point out how important the oil and gas industry is for the local community.
“The oil and gas industry is one of the biggest economic boosters especially for Texas and our community,” club President Elaine Krueger said. “Funds from some of the major oil and gas corporations in our community go to the public school system which helps our children.”
The NHMC Desk & Derrick Club works to educate members about the different professions there are in the oil and gas industry and make sure members are well versed in the variety of different sections in each company.
“There are a lot of people throughout the community that either work or know someone that works for an oil and gas company so they are very important and prevalent to our community,” Krueger said.
And as energy policy goes on the national level and in the presidential race, so does the Houston area.
JOHN MCCAIN
Expand domestic oil and natural gas exploration and production.
Break dependency on foreign oil by reforming transportation sector.
Invest in clean, alternative sources of energy.
-from www.johnmccain.com
Barack Obama
Provide short-term relief to American families facing pain at the pump.
Ensure 10 percent of our electricity comes from renewable sources by 2012, and 25 percent by 2025.
Create more green jobs by strategically investing $150 billion over the next 10 years to catalyze private efforts to build a clean energy future.
-from www.barakobama.com
The Observer’s series leading up to Election Day continues looking into the major presidential issues from a local perspective. As the series progresses, we want to hear from you about your thoughts on energy policy or any other topic you think is important. Send your thoughts by e-mail to observereditor@hcnonline.com.
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