[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 20]
[House]
[Pages 27817-27818]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                                PEAK OIL

  Mr. UDALL of New Mexico. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to 
claim the time of the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Emanuel).
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from New Mexico?
  There was no objection.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from New Mexico (Mr. Udall) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. UDALL of New Mexico. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to stress how 
important it is for the United States to take a bold new approach to 
our energy supplies. Our economy and way of life depend on cheap oil. 
In many ways, cheap oil is responsible for our prosperity. Since oil 
provides about 40 percent of the world's energy, a peak in global oil 
production will be a great turning point in human history. Oil and 
natural gas literally transport, heat, and feed our country. Therefore, 
we must summon the political will to act immediately, diversify our 
energy supplies, and mitigate the negative changes that will 
undoubtedly accompany the world peak in oil and natural gas production.
  Peak oil is a fact, not a theory. Oil production has now peaked in 33 
of the world's largest 48 oil-producing nations.

                              {time}  1630

  A recent Energy and Air Quality Subcommittee hearing showed that a 
growing number of energy experts agree that a peak in world oil 
production is either imminent or likely to occur by 2015. The United 
States demand for oil continues to increase by about 2 percent per 
annum. As global demand has increased faster than production, the once 
substantial cushion between world oil production and demand has 
decreased. This phenomenon has increased the price of oil. 
Consequently, huge amounts of American money, up to $25 million per 
hour, go abroad to pay for foreign oil. Middle eastern countries, flush 
in oil dollars, help fuel the terrorism we are fighting. Some say 
market forces will solve the peak oil problem. They argue that as we 
approach or pass the peak of production, oil prices will increase and 
alternatives will become more competitive.
  However, no alternative currently available will make it more 
competitive. However, there is no alternative available anywhere near 
ready to replace oil in the volumes we use it today. What is more, even 
today's oil prices do not accurately reflect the full social costs of 
oil consumption. Currently, Federal and State taxes add up to about 
$0.40 per gallon of gasoline. A World Resources Institute analysis 
found that fuel related costs not covered by drivers are at least twice 
that much. Oil prices do not include the full cost attributed to road 
maintenance, the financial risk of global warming or threats to 
national security from importing oil. Without these externalities in 
the market, significant private investment in alternative technologies 
will not occur.
  Over the past hundred years, fueled by cheap oil, the United States 
has led a revolution in the way the world operates. Replacing this 
resource in a relatively short time is an incredible challenge, an 
imperative to the survival of our way of life. The United States has 
faced such challenges in the past. In response to great challenges and 
inevitable threats, we pooled our resources and ingenuity to build an 
atomic bomb in just a few years and put a man on the moon in a decade. 
We can and must do this again. We must commit to a bold new initiative.
  To eliminate our dependence on foreign oil and develop a new economy 
based on renewable, non polluting energy, we need a massive, long-term 
investment in research for both basic and applied science. We must 
produce effective policies that create a new generation of scientists 
devoted to changing the way we produce energy. Additionally, we must 
commit to decreasing

[[Page 27818]]

our demand for oil. We can start by increasing efficiency. 
Transportation in the United States accounts for 16.5 percent of the 
world's oil consumption. Transporting goods and people by rail is at 
least five times as efficient as automobiles. We must revive and 
reinvest in our passenger and freight rail system. Looking at our 
automobile fleet, modest increases in fuel efficiency, using existing 
technology will decrease our oil usage by about 1 billion barrels per 
year. However, the turnover rate for the automobile fleet is 10 to 15 
years, therefore, we must start immediately.
  The buildings in which we work and live are terribly inefficient. We 
could easily reduce their energy consumption by one-half. We must 
immediately weatherize and make more energy-efficient tens of millions 
of buildings. Our bold new initiative must instill these ideas into the 
American consciousness. The sooner we start, the smaller our sacrifices 
will be.

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