[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George H. W. Bush (1991, Book I)]
[February 20, 1991]
[Pages 157-159]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



Remarks at a Briefing on Energy Policy
February 20, 1991

    Thank you all very much. Thank you. Please be seated. First, let me
welcome the Members of Congress who are here--Congressman Dingell and 
Congressmen Lent, Sharp, and Moorhead; Senators Wallop and Johnston--and 
a special welcome to them. I want to say that we want to work with them 
as the legislative process goes forward.
    Let me also pay my respects--in looking around, I'm told that 
Governor Hickel is here. Whoops, there he is--Wally, welcome. And 
Governor Ashcroft, Governor Sinner. Of course, our man of the hour here, 
Jim Watkins, our very able Secretary. Governor Sununu, who's been 
working on this with all of us. Henson Moore, from--the Deputy at the 
Department of Energy--made an outstanding contribution to this. And, 
Linda Stuntz, thank you. And Sheila Watkins. And I thought--Clayton--
Secretary Yeutter and Secretary Skinner and Secretary Lujan are all with 
us. Mike Boskin was to be. Mike Deland is here from the CEA [CEQ]. I 
have a method to my madness here in getting around to all of this.
    Senator, welcome to you. I didn't see you earlier. And to Hank 
Habicht of EPA, and Jim Thompson, a former Governor, and former Governor 
Jim Edwards over here.

[[Page 158]]

Jim Thompson is uncharacteristically in the back of the room now that 
he's in private--[laughter]----
    But nevertheless, I cite all these names because this is an issue 
that has great appeal across all kinds of departmental lines. It's 
something that is really essential: a national energy strategy, and I 
want to announce it today. I believe it is a strategy for an energy 
future that is secure, efficient and environmentally sound.
    I want to thank Admiral Watkins and also acknowledge and thank the 
efforts of so many. We now have, thanks to all, a carefully balanced 
energy strategy, and it is designed to diversify America's sources of 
energy. It's designed to encourage efficiency and conservation, spur 
competition throughout the energy sector, give Americans greater choices 
among fuels, and enhance U.S. research and development in new 
technologies.
    The driving force behind this strategy is straightforward. It relies 
on the power of the marketplace, the common sense of the American people 
and the responsible leadership of industry and government.
    Every American will benefit from the policies that we're laying out 
here today. Over the next two decades, this strategy will make us more 
energy efficient without new energy taxes. It will mean savings for 
consumers in energy costs. And it will improve our energy security and 
reduce our vulnerability in the years ahead.
    Let's talk about reality here. We've already made progress toward 
reducing that energy vulnerability. We've diversified our suppliers so 
that we are not unduly reliant on any single source. What's more, 
through the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, we've vastly improved our 
ability to respond flexibly to supply interruptions. And we have already 
begun moving on the path toward improved energy efficiency.
    But we are, I will be the first to concede, a long way from total 
energy independence. Our imports of foreign oil have been climbing 
steadily since 1985 and now stand at 42 percent of our total 
consumption. Too many of those oil imports come from sources in troubled 
parts of the world.
    We know that for domestic oil production, certain areas are off-
limits, and justifiably so, for sound environmental reasons. But 
developing new, alternative energy sources takes time. Some sources of 
power face political problems. So, America will have to continue to 
import energy for years to come.
    We also know that unwise and extreme measures to reduce oil imports 
would seriously hurt the consumer in this country and will adversely 
affect the working man and woman in this country, American jobs, and 
American industries. In the face of these realities, we must act with 
care, but we must act comprehensively. Our national energy strategy 
strikes a sound and reasonable balance, and it will achieve greater 
energy security without unduly burdening the consumers or the economy.
    To minimize our vulnerability to foreign oil, the disruptions that 
come from reliance on foreign oil, this strategy takes a multifaceted 
approach. It will help us to find more reliable sources of energy 
through uncompromisingly safe and environmentally sound development. 
Domestic oil production will rise by 3.8 million barrels a day.
    This strategy will also help us use energy more efficiently by 
encouraging new technologies, alternative-fueled vehicles, and 
conservation. With this strategy, we're working to give Americans 
unprecedented choice and flexibility. Instead of only finding gasoline 
at the corner station, we want Americans to be able to choose from a 
range of environmentally sound and cleaner fuels like ethanol, methanol, 
electricity, propane, natural gas, and cleaner gasoline.
    Where America's towns and cities were once able to buy electricity 
from only one utility company, we want to help spur competition in the 
electric power business and to bring lower prices to consumers. And we 
plan for electricity produced from renewable sources to rise by 16 
percent.
    We want to build an energy future that is based on a range of 
diverse sources, so that never again will this nation's energy well-
being be swayed by events in a single foreign country. Our approach will 
give Americans the flexibility, the opportunity, and the knowledge that 
they need in order to conserve or to change fuel sources and to cut 
their energy bills.

[[Page 159]]

    And finally, we are convinced that this strategy will keep America 
on the cutting edge of new energy technology. It promotes partnerships 
between industry and government for accelerated research in technologies 
like biomass and alternative fuels, or electric vehicles, high-speed 
rail, renewable sources like solar and geothermal power, and nuclear 
technologies of unprecedented safety and security.
    Together with the recently-passed Clean Air Act, this National 
Energy Strategy will maintain an uncompromising commitment to energy 
security and environmental protection. And it will put America on the 
road to continued economic growth. We are not going to have an energy 
strategy that assigns the status quo to the American worker in this 
country. We're going to continue to grow, and we can do it soundly. And 
that's what this energy strategy proposes.
    Nobody should assume that meeting our needs for abundant energy, a 
strong economy and a sound environment is going to be easy. I've just 
met with these Congressional leaders, these leaders in the energy field, 
and we've talked about this. It isn't going to be easy. But I will say 
that this strategy strikes a delicate balance. As always, and we're used 
to that, there will be critics in every corner, but none of them will 
propose a plan that is more comprehensive or, in my view, more carefully 
thought out.
    So, I believe that this is a good strategy because, along with our 
abundant natural resources, it draws on our resourcefulness, our 
nation's remarkable resourcefulness. From the company that finds more 
energy-efficient ways to do business, to the scientist who makes a new 
power source practical, to the individual American at home who finds 
some new way to save energy, I think we can rely on the most remarkable 
source of power that the world has ever seen, and that's the American 
people.
    So, I fully endorse this. Senator Wallop gave me a little good 
advice yesterday that Chairman Bennett Johnston concurred in, and that 
is that if we are going to get this national energy strategy fully 
adopted and the legislation that's necessary enacted, that the White 
House--and they were looking at me when they said this--the President 
must be fully involved. And so, I look around this room, and I see many 
people to whom I'm grateful for your commitment to a sound energy 
strategy. And I just wanted to conclude by telling you that the White 
House and the President will be strongly involved in trying to implement 
the legislation, help put through the legislation that is essential to 
this strategy.
    There are some things I think we can do to empower the executive 
branch. But to get this done right and to get it done the way we must, 
it's going to require a lot of give-and-take; it's going to require a 
lot of consultation with the Congress. And I just wanted to pledge to 
all of you interested in this today that I will do my part. I will be 
fully, actively involved.
    So, thank you very much for coming. And a special thanks to members 
of the Cabinet and the Congress. Thank you all very, very much.

                    Note: The President spoke at 1:22 p.m. in Room 450 
                        of the Old Executive Office Building. In his 
                        opening remarks, he referred to Representatives 
                        John D. Dingell, Norman F. Lent, Philip R. 
                        Sharp, and Carlos J. Moorhead; Senators Malcolm 
                        Wallop and J. Bennett Johnston; Governors Walter 
                        Hickel of Alaska, John D. Ashcroft of Missouri, 
                        and George A. Sinner of North Dakota; Secretary 
                        of Energy James D. Watkins; John H. Sununu, 
                        Chief of Staff to the President; W. Henson 
                        Moore, Deputy Secretary of Energy; Linda Stuntz, 
                        Deputy Under Secretary of Energy and Director of 
                        the Office of Planning Policy and Development; 
                        Sheila Watkins, Secretary Watkins' wife; 
                        Secretary of Agriculture Clayton K. Yeutter; 
                        Secretary of Transportation Samuel K. Skinner; 
                        Secretary of the Interior Manuel Lujan, Jr.; 
                        Michael J. Boskin, Chairman of the Council of 
                        Economic Advisors; Michael Deland, Chairman of 
                        the Council on Environmental Quality; Hank 
                        Habicht, Deputy Administrator of the 
                        Environmental Protection Agency; James R. 
                        Thompson, Jr., former Governor of Illinois; and 
                        James B. Edwards, former Governor of South 
                        Carolina.