A Continental Space Energy Policy?
A major component of any Energize America policy should be a massive Marshall-Plan-like program to accelerate development of the Canadian oil sands in the province of Alberta. American companies are already heavily involved in this area, which exports more than 1 million barrels of heavy oil to the US.
However, these factors make it imperative that America take a harder look at replacing “foreign” (non-continental) oil imports with increased oil imports from the neighbour to the north:
1 The vastness of the economically feasible oil reserves in Alberta (a North American Saudi Arabia):
2 The fact that those vast deposits can be mined at a cost which is economic;
3 The provisions of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), which provide the US with access to Canada’s energy on favorable terms;
4 The impact on employment in the USA if the Albertan oil deposits are developed on a faster basis (spillover effect, arising from increased direct employment of Americans in the deposits, coupled with purchases of goods and services from US;
5 Retention of benefits at home (as most profits would be recycled to American investors).
What would this continental energy-Marshall Plan look like?
First, the aim should be to increase imports of oil from Canada by a factor of 5 within a period of 15 years, that is, by 2020.
Second, the vast industrial strength of America should be focused on this effort, and involved in training the workers required to massively increase production; building the homes required to house the working force (most likely involving many mobile homes, made in the US and used in Alberta); and making the equipment needed to mine the tar sands.
Third, the immense financial strength of the US should be enrolled in financing all aspects of the plan.
Fourth, the US government should encourage investment in the plan through suitable tax breaks (for workers being trained and working on the sites, to manufacturers building equipment, to investors buying income trust units or shares in companies involved in this plan). None of these tax breaks would be available for any services outsourced outside of the US and Canada.
As a focal point, a government-assisted Energy Association could coordinate all activities required by the plan, and it would have the power to cut through red tape in order to implement the plan as soon as possible. Funding – including a contribution to the tax breaks – could be obtained by diverting funds from the current armed forces budgets; after all, energy supply is as much a matter of national defense as the armed forces are, not so?
The result? A major stimulus to the American economy. Hundreds of thousands of highly skilled manufacturing jobs created in the USA, which cannot be outsourced and thus taken over by workers in other countries (these would help replace the skilled and high paying manufacturing jobs lost under the Bush administration). Billions of dollars invested in new equipment. Billions of dollars of profits recycled into the USA instead of going into the pockets of nationals of the current oil producing countries. A safe and politically assured source of energy for America.
The very opposite of NIMBY. In fact, getting your supply of energy from what is virtually your own backyard makes far more economic sense than relying on other countries with all the risks and profit-diversions entailed.
If properly handled, this Energy Association program could become THE cornerstone of America’s quest for self-sufficiency in the short and medium term, allowing alternative energy supply sources to be developed over time.
