retired climber

The Department of Energy Fails Us

I consulted to the DOE for the last ten years of my career and offer the following observations. The DOE as currently constituted is incapable of devising a viable energy policy. They work within a corral built and managed by Congress and Executive branches that are doing the lobbyists bidding, which they consider as the voice of the people. With lobbyist's interests ranging far and wide across the interests related to the energy business, the corral is small.
Congress grilling the oil executives recently is a good example of the problem. Congress set the standards for mileage that allowed the SUV market to flourish as it did, that drove demand and that contributed to price increases. Congress oversees the securitiy markets and to the extent that speculators caused the price to rise, Congress allowed it. Congress did put out a bill in 1995 allowing drilling in places such as ANWR, the Executive branch vetoed it and Congress could not override. President Clinton said that it would take 10 years to get that [2-3 mbd]on line so it would not help [during his admin. anyway]. That bill would have given the world today a 2-3 mbd surplus supply instead of a shortfall. Congress makes laws that EPA enforces and with other mandates in place refineries cannot be built. The Congress does nothing to move ahead with nuclear power. Presidents have demonstrated their ineptness without exception since 1973.
Congress is the least introspective group of casuists on the planet. They need to stop trying to deflect blame away from themselves and solve the problem. With the Congress in one party's hands and the Executive in the other, the solution will need to have Congress' name on it. If same party in both they might share credit for saving the country from those greedy oil executives.
These examples demonstrate how DOE has its hands tied, but they are serving at the pleasure of the President and always have been. Their planning horizons rarely extend beyond the next election and are focused on avoiding embarassment for the administration. The organization has so many problems in their culture and management that they incapable of managing their current mandates effectively if at all.
Yesterday SEcretary Bodman said he is out of the loop on energy policy.
The DOE is not the organization to craft a comprehensive policy for the country.
Negotiating a policy with lobbyists breathing down their necks will render any new policy to look like the horse designed by committee [i.e. the camel]