Browse > Home / Opinion / Today in Biofuels Opinion: Kissinger, Baker, Shultz, Cohen, Scowcroft, Nunn, Robb, 20 others sign call for new direction in US energy policy

Today in Biofuels Opinion: Kissinger, Baker, Shultz, Cohen, Scowcroft, Nunn, Robb, 20 others sign call for new direction in US energy policy

July 17, 2008

Gen. James Jones, president of the Institute for 21st century Energy: “There’s an energy tsunami coming, and when you see it coming you better get on top of the wave, or you’re going to get crushed by it,”

Jones initiated an open letter which made 13 recommendations in energy efficiency, new domestic production and investment in renewable energy sources.

The letter said in part: “We must re-examine outdated and entrenched positions….We demand more energy and complain about high prices, but we restrict energy exploration and production. We embrace the promise of energy efficiency, but we are slow to make adjustments in our energy-intensive lifestyles.”

The letter was signed by Jones, former White House Chief of Staff Mack McLarty, Secretaries of State James Baker III and George Shultz, former Defense Secretaries Frank Carlucci, William Cohen, William Perry and James Schlesinger; former senior White House advisers Howard Baker, Robert “Bud” McFarlane, Kenneth Duberstein and Brent Scowcroft; former Energy Secretaries James Watkins and Spencer Abraham; former CIA Director James Woolsey; former Commerce Secretary Donald Evans; former Democratic Sens. J. Bennett Johnston, Sam Nunn and Charles Robb;, and former Republican Sen. George Allen.

A letter to the president of OPEC from the Canadian Renewable Fuels Association (CRFA), the European Bioethanol Fuel Associations, the Brazilian Sugarcane and Ethanol Industry Association (UNICA) and the US Renewable Fuels Association: “It has been widely reported that the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) believes “the intrusion of bioethanol on the market” is responsible for 40% of the rise in world oil prices. Since you, as the head of OPEC, provide no explanation for such a self-serving and misleading statement that goes counter to any independent analysis of the fuels market today, one can only conclude that OPEC views competition with biofuels as a direct threat to the cartel you have created and continue to maintain…Competition is the antidote for cartels. The growing volume of biofuels in the global fuels market is helping to keep world oil and gasoline prices lower than OPEC may like.”

  • Tellurian Biodiesel to acquire Superior Process Technologies from Baker Commodities
    • Tellurian Biodiesel announced an agreement to acquire Superior Process Technologies (SPT) from Baker Commodities. Baker invested in SPT in 2003 to develop technology for the conversion of rendered ma...
  • US House passes Energy Bill 314-100, President to sign today; historic 36 billion gallon ethanol mandate is centerpiece
    • In Washington, the US House of Representatives passed the Energy Bill by a vote of 314-100. President Bush is expected to sign the bill this morning. The Bill establishes a Renewable Fuel Standard ...
  • Today in Biofuels Opinion: “While ethanol production … is a factor in increased (food) prices, it’s not the driving factor.”
    • US Secretary of Agriculture Ed Schafer: "Things have become apparent that while ethanol production ... is a factor in increased (food) prices, it's not the driving factor. Energy, and increased consum...
  • Science magazine reaction: US scientists write to President Bush, Speaker Pelosi; Berkeley professor says recent policy decisions moving in the right direction
    • A group of scientists have sent a letter to US President George Bush and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi urging them to revise US biofuels policies in light of studies published this month in Science magaz...
  • Today in Biofuels Opinion: “corn farmers and ethanol producers know they are running a cruel hoax on the American consumer”
    • Walter E. Williams, professor of economics at George Mason University: "Ethanol is so costly that it wouldn't make it in a free market. It's easy to understand how the public, looking for cheaper gaso...
  • Today in BIofuels Opinion: “We haven’t even begun to see the impact on the cost of food.”
    • Kent Barton, plant spokesman for Moroni Feed: "I don't believe consumers understand what's going to hit them next year. We haven't even begun to see the impact on the cost of food." Gary Truitt, Ho...

    Written by Jim Lane · Filed Under Opinion 

    Comments

    Got something to say?

    You must be logged in to post a comment.