Craig Stevens: On Energy Policy, Lets Live in the Now

Craig Stevens, a former senior advisor at the U.S. Department of  Energy and GAIN spokesman, recently penned an opinion piece calling for the U.S. to prioritize its resources for tangible energy solutions that are available now, not in the distant future. 

In the wake of the promising nuclear fusion announcement in December, the sobering reality is that the technology is still “decades and hundreds of billions of dollars away” from being a viable form of energy. While the administration obstructs traditional U.S. energy development, Congress has been unable to pass bipartisan permitting reform that would facilitate domestic infrastructure projects.

Instead of focusing heavily on technologies such as the new nuclear fusion breakthrough, the U.S. must be taking steps to alleviate both American consumers’ pain and our allies’ fragile energy security now. Stevens writes, “The war in Ukraine has highlighted an over-reliance on Russian natural gas in European countries — a gap that U.S. natural gas could help fill.” Though the administration has promised to do so, it has also made it more difficult for our own companies to extract and transport those very same resources.

To properly address the current energy crisis, an all-of-the-above strategy is necessary. Complementing our petroleum and natural gas reserves, the U.S. has the opportunity to expedite renewable energy sources thanks to funding in the Inflation Reduction Act and the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. Supporting and building the growing offshore wind energy sector will help the nation reduce carbon emissions.

Though it is important that the U.S. and Department of energy invest in innovative technologies like nuclear fusion, our current resources must be leveraged to meet the global and domestic demands of today. Stevens writes that, “allowing U.S. energy companies to develop and transport the traditional energy resources,” will help “lower the cost of energy, grow our economy and support our allies while greening our environment,” without relying on hundreds of more dollars for distant future technologies.

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