The United States is the only country in the world that doesn’t have an energy plan, says oil tycoon T. Boone Pickens.
Pickens pitched his plan to wean the United States off foreign oil on Thursday at a manufacturing summit at the Northwest Georgia Trade and Convention Center.
“We are depending on oil from people who don’t like us,” Pickens said, referring to the members of OPEC, such as Iran, Libya and Venezuela.
The United States uses 20 million barrels of oil a day, Pickens said. The country produces 7 million of those barrels and imports the other 13 million, with 5 million coming from OPEC.
Pickens said the United States can cut its oil use by 2.5 million barrels a day, half what it imports from OPEC, by changing its commercial trucking fleet from diesel to natural gas. But Pickens said the federal government needs to subsidize that transition, and he urged those attending the conference to support a bill currently in the U.S. House of Representatives that would provide $5 billion in tax credits over five years to support the switch.
Energy issues dominated the conference.
Tom Fanning, chairman and CEO of the Southern Co., said things are looking up for manufacturing in the Southeast. The Southern Co. is one of the nation’s largest providers of electricity.
Fanning said the company’s electrical sales to industrial customers rose 7.8 percent last year, indicating that industrial production is ramping back up. He said industrial sales rose another 6.7 percent in the first quarter of this year.
But Fanning noted that commercial and residential sales are still basically flat, and the economic recovery so far doesn’t seem to have shown strong job growth.
Fanning said the nation has to rely on a full portfolio of energy resources — including coal, nuclear, natural gas and renewables such as solar and wind — to meet its energy needs. But Fanning warned that renewables will remain largely a niche resource, especially in the Southeast, which he said has less wind and sunlight than other parts of the country.
Fanning also warned that increasing federal regulations are increasing the costs of coal-fired power plants.
In fact, several speakers complained that federal policies are driving up the price of energy and increasing the costs of manufacturing in the United States.
Norman Holmes, president of Southern Gas, said regulatory costs associated with laying natural gas pipelines are about 40 percent higher than they were just 10 or 12 years ago.
Chip Howalt, president and chief operating officer of Dalton-based Textile Rubber & Chemical Co., said one thing state lawmakers could do to help Georgia manufacturers is to eliminate the sales tax on energy used in manufacturing. That suggestion was part of a comprehensive reform package proposed by a state commission earlier this year. But the General Assembly did not pass that package.
Steve Moore, a columnist and member of the editorial board of the Wall Street Journal, said if Georgia lawmakers really want to make the state competitive they should get rid of the state income tax. That suggestion drew rousing applause from the audience of around 800.
The comprehensive tax reform package that was presented to the General Assembly earlier this year did not eliminate the income tax, but it did slash income tax rates. However, it kept revenue neutral by expanding the number of items covered by the sales tax.
Moore said he is generally optimistic about America’s economic future, but he spoke of several threats to growth, including taxes, regulation and the Federal Reserve.
“Ben Bernanke is out of control,” he said, referring to the Federal Reserve chairman.
Moore said the Fed has doubled the supply of money over the past two and a half years, which could spark inflation.
“Inflation is just too many dollars chasing too few goods,” Moore said.
The summit was hosted by the city of Dalton and U.S. Rep. Tom Graves, R-Ranger.
Graves said when he talks to manufacturing executives the No. 1 issue they cite as impeding job growth is uncertainty regarding the impact and costs of regulations coming out of Washington. He said the health care law passed by Congress last year added 6,000 pages of new regulations just by itself. And he said he is trying to fight that burden.
“I’m here to get out of your way,” Graves said.
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Related Photos
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T. Boone Pickens speaks to a crowd of more than 800 people at the Trade Center Thursday. Matt Hamilton/The Daily Citizen
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T. Boone Pickens was the keynote speaker Thursday at the Manufacturing Summit that was held in Dalton at the Northwest Georgia Trade Center. Matt Hamilton/The Daily Citizen
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Tom Graves introduces T. Boone Pickens during the Manufacturing Summit Thursday at the Trade Center. Matt Hamilton/The Daily Citizen
Discussion
May 19, 2011
Energy, taxes dominate Dalton manufacturing summit
- Local News
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