Op-Ed: Kerry's Energy Plan Renews Carter's 'Hit List' on Western Water

10/21/2004 4:55:00 PM

 

WASHINGTON, Oct. 21 /U.S. Newswire/ -- Following is an op-ed by Congressman Richard W. Pombo (R-CA), Chairman, Committee in Resources, U.S. House of Representatives:

Kerry's Energy Plan Renews Carter's "Hit List" on Western Water

In 1977, former President Jimmy Carter compiled what was known as his "hit list" of water projects to eliminate from the Western landscape in America.. Today, John Kerry's has an energy plan that would, in effect, renew Carter's contract on the lifeblood of the West.

The centerpiece of Senator Kerry's energy plan is renewable and alternative energy development. He pays for this plan by taking existing revenues - paid to the federal government by energy companies that develop resources on America's public lands - and moving them into new research and development trust fund.

This sounds good, but has a fatal flaw if you live in the West.

Ninety percent of these monies are already dedicated to Western states and an existing account established by Congress under the Reclamation Act of 1902. Known as the Reclamation Fund, these monies pay for the management and delivery of water to 31 million Western citizens, including 140,000 farmers who produce 60 percent of our nation's vegetables and 25 percent of our fruits and nuts. The fund also pays for 58 clean hydroelectric power plants that serve 6 million American homes throughout the West and the oversight of Native American water rights.

A serious effort to develop more clean and renewable sources of energy must be a component in any comprehensive plan, but it cannot come at the expense of western water security and existing clean power projects, nor can it be the solitary focus of an energy policy. In this regard, Senator Kerry's plan is extremely shortsighted and robs Peter without even paying Paul.

Those of us from the West can hope this was an oversight by the Senator from Massachusetts, but it is worrisome nonetheless. Not since President Jimmy Carter's "hit list" on Western water projects has a national leader so grossly failed to understand that water is the lifeblood of the West.

Kerry's plan would strip funding for the more than 600 water storage and delivery systems throughout the West. Key projects like the Klamath Basin, which provides water to 1400 individual farms would be left in a lurch. Projects in other western states like Arizona, New Mexico, and Colorado would face a similar fate.

Americans know that have a serious energy problem in the United States. We export $150 billion a year and countless American jobs to import foreign oil. Our national security is weakened proportionately with our growing dependence on these foreign sources, and the expanding gap between supply and demand is driving prices through the roof. Considered together, these facts have the effect of a wet blanket on our economy and our ability to create good jobs.

As one of the top Democrats in the Senate, John Kerry's attention to the need for a national energy plan is certainly welcome, but John seems to have come lately. During the last four years of his eighteen-year tenure in the Senate, the House of Representatives sent his chamber comprehensive energy policy four times. But the Senator and his liberal colleagues obstructed its passage each time. In that time, the price of oil has more than doubled, from $23 per barrel in 2001 to more than $53 today. The price of home heating oil has increased roughly 32 percent, from $1.20 per gallon in 2001 to $1.75 today. The price of clean burning natural gas has increased 92 percent. And the U.S. has increased by its oil imports more than 10 percent. When the Senate did vote, you- know-who wasn't there. He missed an opportunity to vote for a good bill.

The House-passed plan balances the needs of today with the research and development dollars to find the alternative fuels for our future. It puts Americans and our ingenuity to work producing more fossil fuels at home while we increase conservation by expanding the Energy Star program for appliances and requiring the federal government to slash energy consumption by twenty percent. It also establishes a $3 billion funding program for renewable energy over five years and renews tax credits for more wind, solar, biomass, and geothermal power. We even streamline the permitting processes for alternative energy sources on federal lands to get more of them online as quickly as possible. In fact, According to the American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy, these and other renewable provisions in the bill would "eliminate the need for at least 130 new power plants."

President Carter proudly defended his "hit list" on water and told Americans to "turn their thermostats down" and "wear a sweater" when energy prices hit families the hardest. Kerry seems to be echoing that same message today with his energy plan, which would effectively "turn off the tap" for those of us in the West.

Contact: Brian Kennedy, of the House Committee on Resources, 202-374-5146