From 575 Magazine, Story by Mike Bush - HOBBS — The United States has plenty of energy resources, but public policies need to change so we can fully exploit those resources, the former president of Shell Oil Co. said.But energy must be produced and used efficiently, and resulting waste must be managed properly, former Shell Oil Co. President John Hofmeister, founder and chief executive officer of
Citizens for Affordable Energy, said.Hofmeister was in Hobbs to speak on “Affordable Energy in the 21st Century: Enablers and Disablers” for New Mexico Tech University’s Center for Energy Policy.The abundant resources the United States has make up the first “enablers” for energy in this century, Hofmeister said.“We have more energy than we ever need,” Hofmeister said. “Uranium, coal, oil, natural gas, biofuel, sun, wind, water, we have all the enablers.” Technology also is an “enabler,” Hofmeister said.“We are getting to be real masters of technology when it comes to energy,” Hofmeister said, “and so that enables us to do most anything we choose to do, including cleaning up the waste that we create when we make energy.” We also have the ability to assemble infrastructure, he said.“We’re very good at building infrastructure as a nation,” he added. “We’ve probably got the most built-out infrastructure of most any nation on earth, with perhaps the exception of Western Europe, which has not only the kind of infrastructure we do, but also has an effective mass transport system.”There also are some public policies that enable energy production, he said, but added, “As soon as we start talking about public policy, we are over into the disablers.“We’re not exploiting out natural resources the way we could because of public policy,” Hofmeister said. “When we have 30-year moratoria on exploration and production of natural gas and oil in the outer continental shelf or on federal lands, that’s a disabler.”Another disabler is the “terrible myths” about nuclear energy.“You have very smart people who are dead set against nuclear energy for the strangest of reasons, which I think are lacking in rational logic, and we deny ourselves the benefits of nuclear energy,” he added. “Shame on us. That’s a disabler.”
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Ex-Shell head: U.S. has great energy resources
From The Politico - Tea party forces are seizing on a new strategy in their attempt to purge Senate incumbents from office: the recall. While it’s not entirely clear whether their approach will meet constitutional muster, that hasn’t stopped determined groups of grass-roots activists from trying in nearly a half-dozen states. The most prominent attempt to recall a sitting senator is currently unfolding in New Jersey, where Democratic Sen. Robert Menendez (pictured with this story) awaits a state high court ruling on whether a recall effort against him can go forward. Read more:
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