Make Your Case Assignment

December 4, 2009 at 4:17 pm (Uncategorized)

Government Policy with Energy and the Environment

            President Obama Desires to Steer America to an Energy Efficient Nation

      In 1773, American colonists reacted to a high embargo tea tariff by revolting against Britain, throwing tea into the Atlantic Ocean and creating the historical event known as The Boston Tea Party. When prices of necessary goods are substantially too high, it appears reasonable for the consumer to respond by revolting, replacing the good and ultimately reducing spending costs. Yet, what happens when there is not another reliable outlet to replace the item? With fuel prices’ continual rise in the current economy, many Americans support Obama’s plan to eliminate dependency on foreign fuel trade and become an independent energy-producing nation. Should The United States steer toward becoming an energy efficient Country and eliminate fuel dependency?

     President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden’s ultimate goal in their New Energy Plan for America is to eliminate international dependency on foreign fuel trade. The Plan entails decreasing the amount of consumed fuel by increasing the amount of hybrid vehicles on the road. The plan will also help stimulate the economy by creating five million eco-friendly jobs and investing one hundred and fifty billion dollars into efforts for a clean energy future. Lastly, the plan includes long-term goals for renewable energy, such as utilizing ten percent of renewable energy for electricity by 2012 and then twenty percent by 2025. The Obama-Biden New Energy Plan’s ultimate goal is to create the base for change in energy to continue through the future.

            Although minor economical changes are necessary in the United States, is it absolutely pertinent to eliminate fuel dependency? The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) plans on investing and expanding their crude oil capacity. This will create a bigger supply of oil and contain trade prices to a reasonable amount per barrel. Crude Oil Prices have been analyzed and have already started to display a decrease in price. Although the price of oil will always be capable of fluctuation, OPEC’s expansion will help maintain oil prices to a reasonable spectrum.  This investment affects the United States in a beneficial way not only by oil trade, but also with the decrease of price for fuel.

            One of the biggest advantages the Hybrid brand has in the vehicle market is its capability to conserve fuel. During high inflations of fuel prices, Hybrids seem extremely appealing to any individual who wants to save money on gas. For the environmental movement, it is a perfect candidate; however, for an individual solely concerned with saving money, the hybrid brand is not as praiseworthy. Compared to a normal car, the hybrid version of the vehicle costs about ten thousand dollars more. For example, on the Ford Website, the Ford Escape starts at the price of $20,550 and the Ford Hybrid Escape starts $31,500. Even though a hybrid saves money with fuel, the consumer will ultimately spend more money with the hybrid vehicle, instead of saving it. One individual, “The Captain,” writes on his blog that for his personal lifestyle, he would actually have to drive his Hybrid for twenty years to make up the difference in price and actually start saving money.

            On a positive note, President Obama and Vice President Biden are budgeting one hundred and fifty billion dollars to invest for production of energy efficient outlets in the future. For energy sustainable building productions, the white house should take after the lead of the Lillis Building, at the University of Oregon, that receives and conserves its energy by architectural means. If building designs like Lillis were implemented throughout the nation, America could renew energy everywhere. The only project downfall is that Lillis cost approximately 40 million dollars to build. With only one hundred and fifty billion dollars for investment, The United States could only build three thousand, seven hundred and fifty buildings. That is only seventy-five energy friendly buildings per state, and would only occur if America allotted the entire budget to energy sustainable building production.

            Although Obama and Biden’s New Energy Plan will help stimulate the economy by creating jobs for unemployed Americans, the cost of energy will simultaneously increase and create a higher cost for living. As John Harwood states in his New York Times article,  “No Clear Map for Democrats on Path to New Energy Plan,” those who use light in their homes and businesses will be at a disadvantage because the energy will cost more. 

            Eugene Water and Electric Board (EWEB) has successfully strategized their organization to utilize energy to it’s fullest, while continuing to provide relatively low prices to its community. So far, EWEB’s statistics are incredible. From their energy conservation, they have reduced their utility’s wholesale power bill by $103 million. Had it not been for conservation, EWEB would now be buying much more power on the wholesale market, at higher prices. By this conservation program, EWEB has already been able to steer away from relying on fuel for energy because they can recycle and conserve energy that they have produced.

            However, EWEB has its advantages for such great rates when compared to similar United State Electric Companies. One advantage, the Norwest Power Act, helps their energy conservation. Rob Roy, the Energy Management Programs Supervisor, explains the competitive advantage EWEB has over other companies, “When utilities across the country need to know how they will acquire more power resources, they have to work with their regulators to bring benefits to their shareholders within their company. [EWEB] is a public utility, so we have more flexibility since we do not have to deal with shareholders. Therefore, our main focus is bringing benefits back directly to our customers. We are able to propose and document credible savings estimates.” In order for results like EWEB has achieved to suffice in the United States, President Obama would have to reorganize many prominent businesses throughout the United States.

            Although environmentally, there are many benefits from deriving an energy efficient country, fuel will need to remain in the United States’ future. President Obama and Vice President Biden’s New Energy Plan for America is a good starting point for reducing the amount of fuel consumed in The United States, but economically and financially, The United States is not currently in a position to completely eliminate fuel dependency in the nation. Until then, the government should continue to promote and install environmentally friendly programs at a slow pace so the energy cause will continue to grow.

 SOURCES

1. The Boston Tea Party, 1773 

Eye Witness History informs its peers about historical events, like the The Boston Tea Party. It is institutional-business source because it is funded and presented by Ibis Communications and includes advertisements on the webpage. Its intended audience is for students and those wanting to learn more about historical events. This source references James A. Hawkes’ Retrospect of the Boston Tea-Party, which also includes a memoir from George R.T. Hewes. This source works for the EyeWitness History Program because their goal is to retell history through eyes of those who lived it. This source was published in 2002. I accessed the site on December 1^st, 2009.

2. New Energy Plan for America

This document summarizes President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden’s plans for Energy changes in the United States. Published by Obama for America Organization and “printed in house”, it is an institutional-government document. Obama for America is funded by Hope and individual supporters. It is now linked to the White House for contact information. Its intended audience is for Americans in the United States, but it is biased because it only discusses the advantages for this plan. The government wants to gain American support. This document helped develop my essay because it was a guideline to what the white house wanted to implement in The USA for the energy movement. I accessed the site November 14th, 2009.

3. Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries

OPEC’s goal is to promote fuel on an international level and keep the world informed on what the organization is doing. Created in Baghdad, OPEC is a permanent intergovernmental organization. Countries in Asia, Africa and America participate in this organization. I tried to find the funding source of OPEC by going to their funding link (http://www.opecfund.org/) but it is invalid. After reading about OPEC, my best guess is that the 12 member countries primarily fund OPEC. I would classify this source as an institutional-nonprofit source. Its intended audience is for an international level, where countries all over the world can be updated with what OPEC does. This source related to my essay because it explained OPEC’s goals of expansion and investment for the future. There also was graphs that displayed OPEC crude oil prices over time. I accessed this site on November 13th, 2009.

4. Price of Natural Fuel Imports

US Natural History  relays data with historical imported fuel prices. It is an institutional- government source. The information comes from The Energy Information Administration, who gathers its information from public citizens, congressional staff, journalists, and energy producers & consumers. This source is a government funded website that reached 279,000 individuals in 2008. The information will promote government trade in a positive light since it is a governmental source. I used the charted data of natural gas imported prices for my case, so there should not exist a biased viewpoint. This served my essay in that it showcased that fuel prices were decreasing. I accessed the site on November 14th, 2009.

5. Hybrid Vehicle

The hybrid website compares the benefits and disadvantages of owning a hybrid vehicle, along with supplying information about the brand. This source falls underneath the category of mainstream journalism because it says on their website that they are neither employees nor carmakers and maintain a strict policy of editorial independence.  Although they maintain a level of editorial independence, with variated opnions, their research page does not include a section that deals with the disadvantages of hybrids. It suggests that the webpage’s true intention is to promote hybrid vehicles overall. This website has a wide audience. With debate, this website serves as a good resource because it highlights the benefits of hybrid cars and how they serve the economy. This source relates to my essay because it explained to me the benefits of a hybrid vehicle, so I could balance out my opinion between the comparisons of cost versus what hybrids provide to the environmental movement. I accessed this webiste November 11^th, 2009.

 6. Ford Vehicle Prices v. Hybrid Vehicle prices

This website supplies information on new Ford Vehicles in the auto market. This source is institutional-business because it isn’t reporting on vehicles but selling them in the market. Ford receives it’s funding by shareholders who own stock and investors. Since these shareholders want to make a profile, their opinions will impact the website to promote all Ford vehicles in the best light possible, for the result. For my essay, I only compared the prices between the Ford Hybrids and a regular Ford vehicles, so the persuasiveness on the website was not necessarily applicable to my research. I have contacted this site numerous times, ranging from August 2009 to December 2009.

7. Hybrid Prices

This blog takes a personal example of how a Hybrid would factor into the average american’s life. The Captain, the blogger is a student at Bard College. This blog can be categorized as a citizen-amateur commentator, because The Captain just reflected on the aspects of the Hybrid Vehicle and compared it with a Normal Vehicle and set up a hypothetical situation based off of his own personal research. I do not believe there is strong funding for the blog particularly, however for the domain site, there are advertisements from bing and progressive auto insurance. This source was helpful in supporting my argument because it not only highlighted the benefits of the hybrid but depicted the struggles American’s may face when dealing with the price increase. It also highlighted the element that if cost plays a factor with purchasing a future vehicle, the Hybrid will ultimately not be the cheaper candidate when compared to other vehicles. I accessed this site December 1^st, 2009.

8. Lillis Business Complex

The Lillis Business Complex is an environmentally and energy efficient building at The University of Oregon. This website page summarizes the production the cost, which helped support my essay by stating the cost it took to build Lillis. This source can be categorized as Citizen-Stakeholder because the instituion Solarc is relaying their personal company success stories with buildings in Oregon that have been architecturally manufactured to sustain energy and be environmentally friendly. I believe that their personal company’s revenue is the source of funds. It’s audience serves those who want to engineer buildings that they specialize in, such as institutions, residential homes or restaurants. I accessed this website November 14th, 2009. However, it has not been updated since March 2009.

9. New York Times Article, John Harwood, “No Clear Map for Democrats on Path to New Energy Plan”

This Article discusses the difficulty the democratic party experiences with getting pro-energy plans passed by congress and discusses reasons why there is opposition. This source was helpful with my essay because it clearly depicted a sensible reason for opposition with energy efficiency in America. After reading this article, my viewpoint of my topic altered dramatically, because I began realizing the cost factor with all of my topics. I would classify this source as Journalistic-Mainstream because it is an article that appeared in the New York Times, a widely popular newspaper in the United States. This source allowed me to find a follow up piece in Time Magazine that helped formed concrete opinions with this topic, and ultimately create my should answer. I believe that the New York Times is primarily funded by advertisements, and has minimal interference with the government with what is published. I accessed the New York Times article December 10th, 2009 and followed with the Time article December 11th, 2009.

10. Interview with Rob Roy from EWEB

My interview with Rob Roy primarily dealt with EWEB’s system of maintaining low energy rates for their customers. This source can be categorized as a citizen-expert because Rob Roy has worked for EWEB for over 10 years. His sources seemed reliable because he explained all of EWEB’s energy plans for its customers along with many analytical graphs of how much money they save per year from their renewable energy systems. Since it was an interview, I was the audience, and nobody was paying him to speak with me. Since EWEB is a public utility, there was not a strong impact from those paying. This source was extremely useful for me because Rob helped explain the whole process of energy consumption and how EWEB maintains its energy supply. He also provided information about how EWEB had a competitive cost advantage with other utilities across the United States because of the Northwest Power Act. This interview occurred November 3^rd, 2009 at the EWEB facility.