Energy Initiative Update

Citizens for Global Solutions’ energy initiative seeks to build support for a more comprehensive, more cooperative U.S. energy policy.  We are seeking to enact three key pieces of legislation that are equipped to handle the multiple challenges posed by the current global energy system. 

The first is Senate Resolution 30 (S.Res.30), the Biden-Lugar resolution on international climate change agreements.  It would put the Senate on record supporting binding international climate agreements.  This bill would help the U.S. re-engage in international climate negotiations at a critical time. 

The Kyoto Protocol is set to expire in 2012, and achieving an effective post-Kyoto climate agreement will require U.S. leadership and participation.  The U.S. is the world’s leading emitter of greenhouse gases, and only the U.S. has the ability to bring large developing country emitters to the table.  Without U.S. involvement, rapidly developing countries are unlikely to commit to cutting their greenhouse gas emissions; and without the participation of all major emitters, no agreement can successfully curb climate change.

Recent Senate opposition to international climate agreements has been a problem in the negotiating process.  By removing that obstacle, S.Res.30 is an important first step towards an effective international response to global climate change.

Citizens for Global Solutions has been working with a number of environmental and development organizations to secure passage of S.Res.30, and its companion bill, House Concurrent Resolution 104 (H.Con.Res.104).  The Senate version, along with one of our other key Senate legislative vehicles, was expected to be voted on as we went to press with this newsletter.  For the latest information, please check our web site, www.globalsolutions.org.

Our other Senate bill is S.193, the Energy Diplomacy and Security Act of 2007, introduced by Senator Lugar (R-IN).  Today’s energy challenges cannot be overcome by the U.S. alone.  This bill enhances the capacity of the U.S. to overcome these challenges by increasing international cooperation on energy issues and improving overall energy policy coordination.

As the United States Congress continues to move forward with a series of ground-breaking domestic energy legislation, the U.S. must also work in partnership with other nations to address shared threats to climate, security and development posed by global fossil fuel dependence.  By reforming policymaking and implementation structures, expanding strategic energy partnerships, strengthening global energy crisis response mechanisms and establishing policy guidelines for international energy affairs, S.193 puts the U.S. on track towards achieving a safe and sustainable energy future. 

The third item on our energy menu is H.R. 1886, the End Oil Aid bill.  Introduced by Congressman Maurice Hinchey (D-NY), H.R. 1886 would end the use of U.S. foreign assistance funds to subsidize the international operations of oil and gas companies.  This assistance has become known as “oil aid” because many of the funding streams that are diverted to support the oil and gas industry were originally intended to fight poverty.

Oil aid flows through a number of different channels, including both bilateral assistance and multilateral institutions.  Hinchey’s bill seeks to end bilateral oil aid, and to use the voice, vote and influence of the U.S. to stem oil aid flowing from multilateral institutions. Sources of oil aid include the Export-Import Bank of the U.S. (Ex-Im), the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), as well as multilateral development institutions such as the World Bank.  In 2005, these sources combined to provide more than $3 billion to the oil and gas industry. 

The U.S. has committed to doing its part to fight global poverty, yet every year it spends limited development assistance resources on oil and gas subsidies instead of poverty alleviation.  We are lagging behind in achieving the Millennium Development Goals, yet the U.S. continues to subsidize an industry reporting record profits, whose products undermine development goals, produce climate change and contribute to instability and conflict.  This is a misuse of funds that must be corrected.

In addition, helping developing countries invest in a clean energy future is key to curbing climate change.  Shifting assistance from the oil and gas sector into renewable energy will provide developing countries with the support they need to build a more sustainable energy future and send a strong signal that the U.S. is serious about fighting climate change.