The Energy Debate in the US Election

Published in La Nación
(Chile) on 3 September 2012
by Raúl Sohr (link to originallink to original)
Translated from by Cydney Seigerman. Edited by Heather Martin.
Mitt Romney, candidate for the White House, scoffed at President Barack Obama’s environmental concerns. In his speech to accept the Republican nomination during the convention in Florida, Romney said: “President Obama promised to begin to slow the rise of the oceans and heal the planet.” He then made a calculated pause that was met by laughs in the audience. Subsequently, wanting us to return to reality and leave eccentricities behind, he finished the thought: “MY promise ... is to help you and your family.” From this, it seems that Romney does not consider climate change to be a problem that affects people and their families.

When it was time to make election promises, he posed five key steps to improve the life of the country. At the start of the agenda, he pointed out: “First, by 2020, North America will be energy independent by taking full advantage of our oil and coal and gas and nuclear and renewables.” Good intentions, but it had little originality and for this reason, doubt rises over why Romney will be successful where his predecessors failed.

President Nixon in 1973 announced Project Independence, which was meant to guarantee oil self-sufficiency by 1980. How? Drilling more wells and with the entry of new fuel sources into the market. Since then, each U.S. president has reiterated the same intentions to reduce dependence on foreign oil. In the end, each turned over command with a raw burn worse than that of the previous government.

After Nixon came President Ronald Reagan, who proposed the need to develop “new technologies and more independence from foreign oil.”

Then, President George H. W. Bush stated, “there is no security for the United States in further dependence on foreign oil.” President Bill Clinton, for his part, said, “We need a long-term energy strategy to maximize conservation and maximize the development of alternative sources of energy”

President George W. Bush announced, “By applying the talent and technology of America, this country can dramatically improve our environment, move beyond a petroleum-based economy and make our dependence on Middle Eastern oil a thing of the past” President Barack Obama acknowledged the above and in June of 2010 added, “For decades, we’ve talked and talked about the need to end America’s century-long addiction to fossil fuels. And for decades, we have failed to act with the sense of urgency that this challenge requires. Time and again, the path forward has been blocked — not only by oil industry lobbyists, but also by a lack of political courage and candor.”

Only this year did President Obama urge Congress to stop the $4 billion in subsidies to oil and gas companies.

With regards to Romney, it is difficult to discern how he will fulfill his promise, since he is in favor of lowering the efficiency standards followed by the automotive industry, a measure promoted by Obama that will permit a savings of 2 million barrels of petroleum daily by 2025.

Now that the Supreme Court has decided that there is no limit to political donations in the U.S., the money flows. In the past days, Romney received $10 million from oil and gas companies. For his part, the candidate said that if he is elected, he will end a century of state-controlled exploitation of hydrocarbons in public land. The subject will remain in the hands of local authorities who are more vulnerable to the pressures of large companies.

“Business as usual” or nothing new under the sun.


Mitt Romney, el aspirante a la Casa Blanca, se mofó de las preocupaciones ambientales del Presidente Barack Obama. En el discurso de aceptación de la candidatura republicana, en la convención realizada en Florida, dijo: “El Presidente Obama prometió que disminuiría la subida del nivel de los océanos”, luego dejó una calculada pausa que fue respondida por risas de la audiencia. Acto seguido queriendo decir volvamos a la realidad y dejemos atrás las excentricidades remachó: “Mis promesas son ayudarlos a ustedes y a vuestras familias”. Al parecer Romney no considera el cambio climático como un problema que afecta a las personas y sus familias.

A la hora de las promesas electorales planteó 5 medidas claves para mejorar la vida del país. A la cabeza de su agenda señaló: “Primero, para 2020, Norteamérica será independiente (en el campo energético) haciendo uso de nuestro inventario de petróleo, carbón, gas, nuclear y renovables”. Buenas intenciones, pero que de original tienen poco y, por lo mismo, surge la duda de por qué Romney tendrá éxito donde sus antecesores fracasaron.

El Presidente Richard Nixon, en 1973, anunció el Proyecto Independencia, que debía garantizar la autosuficiencia petrolera para 1980. ¿Cómo? Perforando más pozos y con la incorporación al mercado de nuevos combustibles. A partir de entonces, cada presidente estadounidense ha reiterado las mismas intenciones de reducir su dependencia foránea, y al final ha entregado el mando con una quema de crudo superior a la del gobierno anterior.

Después de Nixon fue Ronald Reagan quien postuló la necesidad de “desarrollar nuevas tecnologías y mayor independencia del petróleo importado”.

Luego, George H. W. Bush señaló: “No hay seguridad para Estados Unidos si dependemos del petróleo extranjero”. Bill Clinton, por su parte, dijo: “Necesitamos una estrategia energética de largo plazo para maximizar la conservación y, a la par, también el desarrollo de fuentes alternativas de energía”.

George W. Bush postuló: “Debemos abandonar nuestra economía basada en el petróleo y hacer de nuestra dependencia del Medio Oriente algo del pasado”. Barack Obama reconoció lo anterior y agregó, en junio de 2010, que “por décadas hemos sabido que los días del petróleo barato y de fácil acceso estaban contados. Por décadas hemos hablado y hablado sobre la necesidad de acabar con la centenaria adicción americana a los combustibles fósiles. Y por décadas hemos fallado en actuar con el sentido de urgencia que este reto exige. Una y otra vez el camino ha sido bloqueado no sólo por los lobbystas de la industria petrolera sino también por una falta de coraje político”. Recién este año Obama instó al Congreso a terminar con los 4 mil millones de dólares en subsidios a las empresas petroleras y gasíferas.

En cuanto a Romney es difícil vislumbrar cómo cumplirá su promesa, puesto que es partidario de reducir los estándares de eficiencia exigidos a la industria automotriz, un factor impulsado por Obama y que permitiría un ahorro de 2 millones de barriles diarios de petróleo para 2025.

Ahora que la Corte Suprema determinó que en Estados Unidos no hay límite a las donaciones políticas, fluyen los fondos. En los últimos días, Romney recibió 10 millones de dólares de empresas petroleras y gasíferas. Por su parte, el candidato dijo que, si resulta electo, terminará con un siglo de control del estado sobre la explotación de hidrocarburos en terrenos públicos. El asunto quedará en manos de las autoridades locales que son más vulnerables a las presiones de grandes empresas. “Business as usual”, o nada nuevo bajo el sol.
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