Manufacturers:
Time to Act is Now
Time to Act is Now
|
| Catherine Riddle works on a nuclear energy research team at the Idaho National Laboratory. Idaho's goal is to build the lab into a $1-billion-a-year business within 10 years. The goal of the federal research program is to develop the next-generation nuclear power plant that will fuel America's future energy needs. Currently, there are 103 operating nuclear reactors in the U.S. |
Manufacturing executives around the country agree with Meyer. The time to increase energy supplies and lower fuel prices is now, they say, not later when many of them may be out of business.
"With fuel costs soaring and durable goods orders dropping, the time to pass comprehensive energy legislation is now," National Association of Manufacturers President John Engler said recently as he pledged NAM's support for construction of refineries, nuclear plants and LNG terminals.
"Even if the United States improved its energy efficiency by 50 percent in the next 20 years, we would still need to increase energy supplies by more than 30 percent to support anticipated economic growth through 2025," said Engler, former governor of Michigan. "So, we simply must make major investments in our energy infrastructure and in new technologies."
Engler noted the disparity between America and other countries. While the price of natural gas has tripled in the U.S. since 1999, it has increased by only one dollar in Venezuela, North Africa and Russia, which has the world's largest reserve of natural gas.
The Industrial Energy Consumers of America estimates that higher gas prices contributed to the loss of nearly 3 million U.S. manufacturing jobs since 2000.
With only four LNG terminals serving the entire U.S. and no new oil refineries built in the U.S. since 1976, "the need to expand supplies and capacity has reached the critical stage, and manufacturers are bearing the brunt of policy-makers' inaction," Engler said.
Engler called upon Congress to pass comprehensive energy legislation before it is too late. "The House has passed such a bill time and again, yet obstructionists in the Senate continue to put special interests ahead of the national interest," he said.
Engler was joined just last month by a coalition of diverse Illinois manufacturers, who called on Congress to pass needed energy reform legislation before the end of summer.
"Our economic recovery and the pace of job creation have been slowed considerably by record high energy prices, and it's time for Congress to do something about it," said Ron Bullock, president of the Bison Gear and Engineering Corp. in St. Charles, Ill.
George Vincent, chairman and CEO of C.P. Hall, a Chicago-based chemical manufacturer, and chairman of the Illinois Manufacturers Association, said, "We've lost 90,000 jobs as a direct result of high natural gas prices, and our once strong trade surplus in chemicals has eroded dramatically."
"With fuel costs soaring and durable goods orders dropping, the time to pass comprehensive energy legislation is now," National Association of Manufacturers President John Engler said recently as he pledged NAM's support for construction of refineries, nuclear plants and LNG terminals.
"Even if the United States improved its energy efficiency by 50 percent in the next 20 years, we would still need to increase energy supplies by more than 30 percent to support anticipated economic growth through 2025," said Engler, former governor of Michigan. "So, we simply must make major investments in our energy infrastructure and in new technologies."
Engler noted the disparity between America and other countries. While the price of natural gas has tripled in the U.S. since 1999, it has increased by only one dollar in Venezuela, North Africa and Russia, which has the world's largest reserve of natural gas.
The Industrial Energy Consumers of America estimates that higher gas prices contributed to the loss of nearly 3 million U.S. manufacturing jobs since 2000.
With only four LNG terminals serving the entire U.S. and no new oil refineries built in the U.S. since 1976, "the need to expand supplies and capacity has reached the critical stage, and manufacturers are bearing the brunt of policy-makers' inaction," Engler said.
Engler called upon Congress to pass comprehensive energy legislation before it is too late. "The House has passed such a bill time and again, yet obstructionists in the Senate continue to put special interests ahead of the national interest," he said.
Engler was joined just last month by a coalition of diverse Illinois manufacturers, who called on Congress to pass needed energy reform legislation before the end of summer.
"Our economic recovery and the pace of job creation have been slowed considerably by record high energy prices, and it's time for Congress to do something about it," said Ron Bullock, president of the Bison Gear and Engineering Corp. in St. Charles, Ill.
George Vincent, chairman and CEO of C.P. Hall, a Chicago-based chemical manufacturer, and chairman of the Illinois Manufacturers Association, said, "We've lost 90,000 jobs as a direct result of high natural gas prices, and our once strong trade surplus in chemicals has eroded dramatically."
