US urged to act on energy
Saturday, 21 July 2007
Ed Crooks in London
The US should adopt the toughest possible fuel economy standards for motor vehicles and join a global framework for managing carbon dioxide emissions, according to a Bush administration-commissioned study of the energy industry, led by the former chairman of ExxonMobil.
The recommendations come in a report from the National Petroleum Council, the industry advisory body to the administration, entitled "Facing the Hard Truths about Energy".
A draft of the report, seen by the Financial Times, makes five main recommendations for US energy policy, including slowing demand growth by increasing efficiency, expanding sources such as coal and nuclear power, and developing a legal framework for capturing and storing CO2 emissions.
The NPC was called on by the administration in 2005 to review the outlook for America's oil and gas supplies.
The 21-month inquiry, chaired by Lee Raymond, the former chairman of Exxon, is the most comprehensive study of the industry for decades. It had 350 participants, including oil and gas companies, banks, vehicle manufacturers, consultancies and non-governmental organisations. The report will be voted on by the NPC at a meeting in Washington on Wednesday morning, and will be presented to Samuel Bodman, the energy secretary.
The conclusion in the draft report is that "the world is not running out of energy resources, but there are accumulating risks to continuing expansion of oil and natural gas production from the conventional sources relied upon historically".
The US should adopt the toughest possible fuel economy standards for motor vehicles and join a global framework for managing carbon dioxide emissions, according to a Bush administration-commissioned study of the energy industry, led by the former chairman of ExxonMobil.
The recommendations come in a report from the National Petroleum Council, the industry advisory body to the administration, entitled "Facing the Hard Truths about Energy".
A draft of the report, seen by the Financial Times, makes five main recommendations for US energy policy, including slowing demand growth by increasing efficiency, expanding sources such as coal and nuclear power, and developing a legal framework for capturing and storing CO2 emissions.
The NPC was called on by the administration in 2005 to review the outlook for America's oil and gas supplies.
The 21-month inquiry, chaired by Lee Raymond, the former chairman of Exxon, is the most comprehensive study of the industry for decades. It had 350 participants, including oil and gas companies, banks, vehicle manufacturers, consultancies and non-governmental organisations. The report will be voted on by the NPC at a meeting in Washington on Wednesday morning, and will be presented to Samuel Bodman, the energy secretary.
The conclusion in the draft report is that "the world is not running out of energy resources, but there are accumulating risks to continuing expansion of oil and natural gas production from the conventional sources relied upon historically".