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Inglis' "Action Plan”
An action plan for energy security and leading in a changing world
These positions on gas prices, energy security, health care, immigration, Iraq, climate change and education reflect the culmination of Rep. Bob Inglis’s fact-finding tours in the district and his thoughts as ranking member of the Science Subcommittee on Energy and Environment.
These action points allow the people of the Fourth District to see where Rep. Inglis stands on the issues and to add their comments.
Inglis Town Meetings |
Monday, August 18, 7 p.m.
Hughes Library
25 Heritage Green Pl.
Greenville
Thursday, August 21, 7 p.m.
USC Union Community Room
309 East Academy St
Union |
Tuesday, August 19, 7 p.m.
Spartanburg Westside Library
525 Oak Grove Rd.
Spartanburg
Tuesday, August 26, 7 p.m.
Greer CPW
301 McCall Street
Greer |
Gas Prices
The rapid rise of gas and fuel prices is hitting working families hard. Unfortunately, a quick fix is unlikely, because while we may get some temporary relief, global demand trends show that the price is likely to continue to trend up.
America does have solutions. We can break our addiction to oil and:
- Improve our national security by lessening our dependence on regions of the world that hate us
- Create new innovation and manufacturing jobs in South Carolina as we move to fuels of the future;
- Clean up the air as we innovate and increase our energy efficiency.
It’s not going to be easy. We have relied on drilling more holes and finding more fossil fuels since the 1973 Arab oil embargo. It is now time to exercise American creativity.
This can mean some pain as price increases bring forward market alternatives. But we can win in the innovation competition and it can be amazingly profitable.
Here’s an Action Plan:
1). More energy
A. Extend renewable energy production tax credit
- Extending the renewable energy tax credit will help the
- U.S. overtake Germany as the No. 1 producer of wind energy by the end of 2008.
- GE’s Garlington Road plant in Greenville contributes to GE’s standing as the No. 2 installer of wind units in the world.
- New energy will create new jobs, such as the 200 more engineers sought by GE.
B. Build more nuclear power plants
- Coal-fired plants produce 40 percent of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions.
- Nuclear plants produce no greenhouse gasses, but they do have a waste issue.
- Nuclear reactors can be used to efficiently create hydrogen for transportation use.
- A nuclear power renaissance means a job generating industry. Fluor Corporation will construct some of those plants and is looking to hire 200-300 more engineers in Greenville.
C. Continue to develop and deploy solar energy
- Net-metering (running your electricity meter backwards when you generate your own power) will allow home owners and commercial building owners to get a return on their investments in alternative energy technologies.
D. Develop clean coal technologies
- Clean coal can separate hydrogen and burn it, while capturing and sequestering the carbon dioxide.
- Because sequestration requires the right geology to trap carbon underground, find other ways to capture carbon in areas that don’t have the ability to bury it (such as algae or chemical compounds).
2). Reinvent the car
A. Conserve fuel with higher fuel economy standards. Low rolling resistance tires can improve fuel economy by 1.5% to 4.5%.
B. Use clean diesel.
- BMW plans to manufacture new clean diesel vehicles in Spartanburg with engines that get 35 mile per gallon.
C. Expand tax incentives for gas-electric hybrids.
- BMW’s first gas-electric hybrid will be manufactured in their Spartanburg plant.
Note several Inglis votes below...
- Inglis voted in the Energy Security and Independence Act (PL110-140) to raise Corporate Average Fuel Economy Standards (CAFE) to 35 MPG by 2020, which would save the amount of oil we currently import from the Middle East. Inglis also voted to require fuel savings labeling for tires in that bill.
- Production tax credit was created in 1992. Inglis voted to extend the credit in the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (PL109-58) and the Tax Relief Act of 2006 (PL109-432).
- Inglis voted to create loan guarantees and tax incentives; streamline the licensing process for new nuclear plants; and research the next generation of nuclear power in the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (PL109-58).
- Inglis voted to have each state adopt their own net-metering standard by 2008 in the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (PL109-58); SC adopted a similar standard to NC’s in 2007.
- Inglis voted to authorize the FutureGen clean coal program in the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (PL109-58). The Department of Energy (DOE) cancelled the program in Dec 2007.
- Inglis voted to clean up diesel fuel in the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (PL109-58), which paves the way for clean diesel automobiles to be sold in America.
D. Create incentives for plug-in hybrids.
E. Develop cellulosic ethanol to move beyond the competition between fuel and food (as with corn-based ethanol).
F. Make the same kind of commitment that President Kennedy made with the moon shot. Within a decade, commitment to:
- Research better batteries that can charge quickly (minutes, not hours); supply enough power to travel hundreds of miles; and are American made with American components.
- Develop better solar panels that more efficiently convert sunlight into electricity.
- Realize hydrogen—the ultimate fuel of the future.
3. More oil and gas
A. Drill for oil and gas offshore in a safe and environmentally responsible way.
B. Build more refining capacity.
C. Preserve some sources of oil for future use. Many high value products, such as pharmaceuticals and plastics, are made from petroleum. Hold on to America’s scarce reserves for when oil is really hard to find rather than burning up reserves in special places like ANWR.
4. Buildings use 40% of the energy we consume.
A. Better insulation
B. Better building design
5. Quick, easy and WRONG solutions
There are solutions -- just no quick and easy, painless solutions. Here are examples of quick, easy and wrong solutions:
- Suspend the gas tax for the summer— This means we deficit finance road construction and repair, and a number of economists suggest that motorists might not see the 18-cent-a-gallon savings during high demand and tight supply.
- Stop filling the strategic reserve. We still need a safeguard against supply interruption— remember Hurricane Katrina?
- Just drill more holes. America contains only 2% of the world’s known oil reserves, but America suffers from no shortage of creativity. Demanding more oil just prolongs our addiction. The former head of the CIA testified at the Foreign Affairs Committee in January 2007 that we could ruin the day of the Iranian oil minister by having GM announce that it’s bringing to market a 500 mile per gallon plug-in hybrid.
- Excess profits tax on the oil companies. This was tried in the 1970’s under President Carter and the result was a restriction on reinvestment and exploration.
Note several Inglis votes below...
- Inglis voted to research and deploy cellulosic ethanol in the Energy Security and Independence Act (PL110-140).
- Inglis voted to create incentives for new hybrid vehicles in the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (PL109-58). Inglis is an original cosponsor of the DRIVE Act (H.R. 670 in the 110th Congress), which proposes to extend those credits.
- Inglis voted to allow drilling for natural gas on the Outer Continental Shelf in the Peterson Amendment to the Interior Appropriations Bill (H.R. 2543 in the 110th Congress). Inglis voted to streamline the refinery permitting process to build new gasoline refineries in the GAS Act (H.R. 3893 in 109th
- Inglis voted for improved building standards in the Energy Security and Independence Act (PL110-140). Inglis voted for higher funding for basic research that will lead to energy breakthroughs in the America COMPETES Act (PL110-69). Inglis developed the H-Prize legislation, which was included in the Energy Security and Independence Act (PL110-140).
FOOD PRICES
High food prices are linked with high fuel prices. Expensive fuel to transport and harvest food increases the cost of food on the shelf. Increasing refining capacity in the near-term and moving to fuels of the future in the mid-term and long-term will help farmers lower fuel and fertilizer costs. Cellulosic ethanol from switch grass and wood chips will make corn and other grains more available and more affordable as food. We should end the competition between fuel and food.
IMMIGRATION
Solving the problem of illegal immigration is one of the most straightforward challenges we face. We must:
- Secure the border, building fences where necessary, using the military where necessary.
- Require employers to verify Social Security numbers before hiring.
- Require proof of legal status before granting drivers’ licenses and license tags.
- Limit social benefits to citizens.
- Deal with the estimated 12 million illegal immigrants here in the U.S. by:
- Limiting their stay — instead of the indefinite stay of the Z visa proposed in the Senate immigration bill, offer a temporary worker permit following payment of a substantial fine;
- Follow the temporary worker permit with the ability to get a green card if the worker applies from their home country after a return trip, pays a substantial fine and passes an English proficiency test; and
- Follow the green card with the ability to become a citizen if the applicant passes the citizenship test and goes to the end of the line after the current legal entrants. (Clearing the backlog for legal entrants will likely take 8-13 years.)
CLIMATE CHANGE
Science Committee trips to Antarctica have convinced me that climate change is real, that humans are contributing to the problem and that we need to take action.
Rather than the end of the world, climate change gives America many opportunities to innovate:
- Let the Market work. Attaching a price to carbon will allow the market to drive new technologies. Until the market takes over, it’s just a science project. New nuclear and reinvented cars will compete because air is no longer a free good. The market will be able to include the price of the risk we face from future carbon emissions.
- Secure manufacturing and industry. China and India should not gain an unfair advantage from our efforts to reduce emissions. If they refuse to take similar measures, we should adjust the cost of their goods at our border to reflect their use of the air. They still have an advantage on labor, but they can’t game the system with unlimited free pollution.
- Strengthen national security. We’re funding both sides of the war on terror with our gasoline purchases. With fuels of the future and new technologies, we can break our addiction to foreign oil and improve the national security of the United States.
- Improve our image abroad. The United States has been a global leader in many aspects of foreign policy. Many countries believe America doesn’t care how the rest of the world lives. As other countries begin to feel the effects of climate change and rise to the challenge of confronting it, America risks losing leadership in a key area that will impact our future military budgets.
IRAQ
America ’s volunteers in the military have won three campaigns in Iraq.
Phase 1. We overran Iraq in response to an American national security threat. We won.
Phase 2. We were forwardly deployed; the terrorists brought the fight to us; we busted up terrorist networks; America was protected from further attacks. We won.
Phase 3. A surge in troop levels created security to allow Iraqi politicians to pass key legislation. America’s best led the charge and won that security space.
Iraq must now decide if it wants freedom. Our fallen heroes have died for the people of America and only incidentally for the people of Iraq. American national security is our objective in Iraq, not nation building. Because it’s in our national security interest, we seek to be a supporter of their democracy; we must not make the mistake of becoming a guarantor of their democracy.
Freedom isn’t free. Iraqis must pay for it.
Iraqi politicians and the Iraqi people must be held accountable for progress toward reconciliation goals. It’s not time to withdraw, but it is time to establish a series of success checkpoints to measure progress on dividing the oil fairly among Shia, Sunnis and Kurds; on reintegrating former Baath Party members into positions of public trust; and on amending the constitution to ensure Sunni rights. Those success checkpoints should be accompanied by a progression of larger to smaller “carrots” (rewards) followed by smaller to larger “sticks” (consequences).
HEALTH CARE
Affording quality health care is America’s most complex challenge. We should:
1.) Make prevention especially affordable and readily available.
- Annual physicals
- Aggressive management of chronic conditions
- Aggressive encouragement of smoking cessation and weight control
- Emphasize nutrition and exercise
2.) Get every American covered by health insurance
- Would reduce “cost shift”
- Large risks should be shared; small risks should be owned
3.) Use technology to improve efficiencies and outcomes
- Electronic medical records
- Better use of diagnostic tools
4). Understand the competitive disadvantage we’re causing American industry
- People with private insurance and individual payers are making up for the government’s bargain on Medicare and Medicaid
- Health insurance should be owned by individuals; not by their employers
5). Meet the patient at the need
- 24-7 clinics adjacent to emergency rooms?
EDUCATION
1. The federal government should:
A. Inspire achievement. We’re committing our children to a race with the rest of the world in which they will have to run harder, faster and smarter in order to stay ahead.
— Gas prices and 9/11 are this generation’s Sputnik challenge.
— Creative, prepared young people win for us the flexibility required in a global economy.
B. Provide a robust system of student aid so as to allow students to go to colleges throughout the U.S.
2. Local decision makers (parents, teachers, school districts) should manage education.
A. Parents, not government, are the most important ingredient; our system should keep decisions about education as close as possible to parents.
B. No Child Left Behind imposed accountability (right concept) at the wrong level of government (federal government) and should be repealed.
Several Inglis votes on Education...
- Inglis launched a health care tour involving more than 75 fact-finding visits with physicians, clinics, hospitals, caregivers, community groups, insurance companies and policy experts in gathering a picture of how health care is delivered in the Fourth District. See the health care issues page at www.inglis.house.gov.
- Inglis voted to create scholarships for educating math and science teachers and prioritizing research grants for young scientists in the America COMPETES Act (PL110-69).
- Inglis voted to lower interest rates for student loans and increase Pell Grants in the College Cost Reduction Act (PL110-84).
- Inglis also voted to avoid a credit crunch in the student loan industry by increasing maximum federal loans and allowing the Dept. of Ed. to buy private loans in Ensuring Continued Access to Student Loans (PL110-227). Inglis cosponsored legislation to allow states to withdraw from No Child Left Behind in the A PLUS Act (H.R. 1539).
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