Texas Gov. George W. Bush has criticized Vice-Pres. Al Gore and the Clinton administration for not developing a comprehensive US energy policy, while Gore said the US needs to "free itself from the price manipulations of big oil companies and the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries."
The two presidential candidates touched upon their proposals for a US energy strategy at the first presidential debate Oct. 3 in Boston. Bush proposed increasing US oil and natural gas exploration and production efforts, while Gore said he would offer tax cuts and incentives for developing more fuel-efficient cars, factories, and furnaces and for developing alternative sources of energy.
Domestic supply
Gore said that Bush's plan to open up the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge Coastal Plain east of Prudhoe Bay field in Alaska to E&P is environmentally unsound and would give the US "only a few months of oil" that wouldn't start flowing "for many years into the future." Bush countered that remark by saying that only a small portion of Alaska would be opened to E&P, and once developed, could produce 1 million b/d of oil. He added, "I would rather that a million come from our own hemisphereellipseas opposed to Saddam Hussein."
In August, the Democratic National Convention presented its platform, which includes prohibiting oil exploration on the ANWR Coastal Plain. The Democratic Party also said it would continue to focus on environmental protection. The platform said that Gore was committed to "protecting the coasts of California and Florida and [ANWR] from oil and gas drilling."
Gore said incentives should be given to develop domestic resources, such as deepwater natural gas in the Gulf of Mexico and onshore oil stripper wells, but renewable sources of energy "that are cleaner and better" also should be developed.
Bush said he favors building pipelines to move natural gas from Alaska to the US Lower 48. "We've got abundant supplies of energy here in America, and we'd better get out there and...start exploring it. Otherwise, we're going to be in deep trouble in the future because of our dependency upon foreign sources of crude." He also touched on an initiative listed in his energy policy to create a "North American Energy Policy" with Canada and Mexico (OGJ Online, Sept. 29, 2000). Bush said he discussed with Mexican Pres. Vicente Fox plans to expedite development of natural gas in Mexico for export to the US.
Heating fuel concerns
Both candidates also said they favor securing funding for the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program fund, used to help lower-income residents pay for heating fuel in the winter.
At one point, debate moderator Jim Lehrer asked if it would be fair to characterize the differences between the two leading presidential candidates on energy as Gore focusing on the consumption end, while Bush focuses on the production end. Gore said that he is doing something both on the supply side as well as on the consumption side.
Last week, Bush unveiled the details of an energy policy featuring 20 initiatives that he said would decrease US dependence on foreign oil (see related story, p. 20).
The Clinton administration recently announced it would release 30 million bbl of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve over a 30-day period to moderate oil prices and boost heating oil and gasoline stocks (OGJ Online, Sep. 23, 2000). Gore had urged Pres. Bill Clinton to tap the 571-million bbl SPR before this winter, saying that "Americans should not have to choose between heating and eating this winter." Bush said the administration's move was politically motivated.
Both candidates also said they favor developing clean-coal technologies to make use of US coal reserves.
