Jon Huntsman's Energy Policy Speech

AS PREPARED FOR DELIVERY:

Governor Huntsman Energy Speech
Durham, New Hampshire
November 1, 2011

FULL SPEECH

Excerpts

Ladies and gentlemen, for the sake of America’s economic and national security, we must unshackle ourselves from the scourge of foreign oil.

So how do we do that?

There are three basic steps that need to be taken.

First, America is drowning in energy resources. So we must remove the regulatory constraints on the production of domestic energy.

Second, we need to break oil's monopoly as a transportation fuel, and create a truly level playing field for competing fuels.

Third, we need to build an environment that will incubate the next generation of energy technologies and ensure that America leads the global energy economy in the decades to come.

Regulations and approvals for new wells and pipelines need to be streamlined and directed to “move at the speed of business.”
 
There are 170 billion barrels of oil in Alberta’s oil sands – more reserves than in all of Iraq. Yet lawsuits and legislation threaten to block access to this resource.

My administration will stand behind the Keystone pipeline, creating more than 100,000 American jobs while reducing our dependence on overseas imports.

Hydraulic fracturing is also an opportunity to expand our domestic energy production.  As president, I will break down barriers to the continued, safe use of fracking, which could increase America's production of natural gas by 25 percent - an outcome the American people deserve.
 
Coal, while viewed with hostility by some, is one of America’s most abundant energy resources and the mainstay of many communities.
 
We must break oil's monopoly.
 
We will also reaffirm our support for non-commercial research at ARPA-E – the DOE’s version of DARPA – and invest more funding in pure research at our universities.

We must have a level playing field, with the federal government setting fair rules, but investing only in basic research.

On my first day in office, I will take three immediate steps to launch a sea change in energy policy.

I will direct my administration to clarify rules that ensure the safe and rapid expansion of offshore drilling and fracking.

I will move to open our fuel distribution network to all forms of energy, biofuels, natural gas and electricity.

I will systemically begin to eliminate every subsidy for energy companies, whether it be oil, natural gas, wind or solar. Under my presidency, the United States will get out of the subsidy business. And if necessary, I will use my executive authority to act unilaterally.

(Jon Huntsman website)