Iola High School
Iola, Kansas
Teacher: Loretta Arnold
The Energy Act of 2005: Is It Enough?
By: Luke Riebel
12th Grade
The Energy Act of 2005 was signed in to law under the Bush Administration on August 8th of 2005. There was much praise from the press for this important step. This act was the first new comprehensive energy national policy passed in the United States in thirteen years. While the bill was making its way through congress, a press release from the Edison Electrical Institute stated that the bill “will lay the foundation for a more secure, reliable and affordable energy future.” The day that the bill was signed into law, Kuhn of the institute said, “America’s energy customers will be the ultimate beneficiaries of the new law.” But is the bill keeping up with energy demands of today? And is America getting the most out of [its] natural resources? The Energy Act of 2005 was a much needed step towards eliminating the problems facing [us], but much more is needed to address all our concerns.
Our government shows great progress by looking far into the future to prevent problems that are facing the country and our world. To date, the government has been issuing mandates on fuel manufactures to use 7.5 billion gallons of ethanol and ethanol blends in gasoline use by the year 2012. These steps will increase the availability of ethanol and ethanol-blends to United States consumers everywhere, thereby reducing the nation’s dependence [on] foreign oil and, eventually, lowering the cost of gasoline fuels for American consumers.
The new bill also places mandates on vehicle manufactures to improve hybrid technologies and to offer more flex-fuel vehicles. However, making a flex-fuel vehicle only adds about two hundred dollars to the cost of production and allows the vehicle to run on gasoline and on the E-85 ethanol blend. The bill also creates a joint flexible-fuel hybrid vehicle commercialization initiative that will help to develop the technology and also to market vehicles to the public. Furthermore, the bill also encompasses other areas of alternative fuels such as hydrogen energy. The bill appropriates $3.7 billion for research over the next five years and creates another research organization that will work with universities, federal laboratories, and automobile manufactures to design hydrogen-powered cars and other vehicles and machinery. Other forms of alternative energies include bio-diesel energy, hydroelectricity, nuclear energy, geothermal energy, wind power energy, and solar power. With research, technological growth, and initiative, the Energy Bill promotes economical growth in manufacturing companies across the nation.
The Energy Act of 2005 is a step in the right direction, but more steps are needed in order for the task to be completed. Instead of giving the major oil companies major tax breaks (when they already make billions of dollars a year), I believe we should use this same money to fund even more research towards existing forms of renewable energies. We should promote the use of a variety of energies, not just one. Furthermore, the act also does not address the more immediate problem of high gas prices and foreign dependence. Congress should address these issues as well as the long-term issues. Regulations set up by the government on major oil companies would help to control the rising gas prices. Exxon Mobil, the world’s largest publicly traded company, is on tract to make over $40 billion this year alone! If our government could put a cap on the major oil companies’ profits of excess of over $7.5 billion a quarter, it would keep gas prices for the consumers lower and put more money into the economy for smaller businesses and growing industries. Another option is for our government is to mandate any profit over the cap to go straight into research in the fields of alternative energy, preservation of the environment, or improvements on existing technologies. These actions will address both our immediate problems and our long-term problems.
Ethanol is the future of American energy -- hydrogen is a novel idea, but it would take billions of dollars to persuade consumers to buy all new cars and to rework the nation’s filling stations. Too much change all at one time may be discouraging. With ethanol, the systems are already in place to distribute the fuel throughout the country, the automobile also would not have to be reinvented like it would with hydrogen or other energy options. The design has been around since 1908 and the Model T. Re-invention, design, and manufacturing would not be needed.
The Energy Act of 2005 should not be abandoned but it should be amended with important and thought out provisions. The Energy Act does a lot to further the use of alternative fuels, but there is always something more that can be done.
Resources:
· http://www.eere.energy.gov/afdc/altfuel/altfuels.html. (very informative)
· http://www.eei.org/industry_issues/electricty_policy/federal_legislation/index.htm. (somewhat informative)
Answers to the Required Reading Questions
1. Gasohol is a by-product from corn and sugarcane; cellulosic ethanol can be produced from switch grass, wood chips, and corn husks.
2. The automakers did this to get a break from fuel economy standards.
3. Henry Ford’s Model T was the first car to be able to run on ethanol.
4. Brazil's location and climate is perfect for growing sugar cane, which is the richest source of ethanol known, the factories that turn the sugar cane into ethanol are in close proximity to the fields in which the crops are grown, cutting the cost of transport, and Brazil has a little oil to supplement the ethanol usage. The most important thing is that consumers are not forced to buy ethanol but they chose to.
5. The yellow gas caps show that the vehicle is flex-fuel.
6. Biodiesel is a renewable fuel source that is manufactured from oil,
fats, greases, and alcohol. It contains significantly less of the harmful sulfur compounds.
7. “Flex fuel engine” means that the engine is capable of running on gas or ethanol.
8. H.R. 6 was signed in to law by President Bush on August 8th of 2005.
9. The purpose of the fuel hybrid vehicle commercialization initiative is to make hybrid vehicles accessible and to research and improve the technology.
10. The nation’s largest renewable energy source is hydro electricity.
11. The purpose of the Hydrogen Fuel Initiative is to improve the
technology and to be able to produce, store, and distribute the hydrogen to fuel the fuel cell vehicles.
12. Seven of the items mentioned in the 2005 energy tax bill that
taxpayers can claim as credits on their tax bills are:
1. For the construction of energy efficient homes and offices.
2. For purchasing energy efficient heating and cooling systems.
3. For the purchase of solar equipment.
4. For contractors who build energy efficient homes.
5. For the purchase of water heaters, heat pumps, and other equipment that meets energy standards.
6. For the manufactures of highly efficient equipment.
7. For the purchase of solar, photovoltaic, and fuel cell properties for use at residences.