BUFFALO CITY FORUM
Ex-oil exec says nation needs energy board
A former oil industry executive said Friday that an independent body comparable to the Federal Reserve Board should be created to set and guide national energy policy.
John Hofmeister, who stepped down as president of Shell Oil earlier this year to head Citizens for Affordable Energy, a nonprofit advocacy group, called for a Federal Energy Resources Board to determine the future “strategy of the land” on oil and gas exploration, production and distribution and on the development of alternative energy sources and technologies.
Speaking at Buffalo City Forum in the WNED-TV studios, Hofmeister said the latest energy crisis was partly a product of a “dysfunctional” executive branch and “partisan paralysis” in Congress rather than any real dearth of oil and gasoline.
“There is no shortage of energy in the world. Nada. None,” he said. “There is more, and always will be more, than consumers need.”
If energy nevertheless seems scarce, he said, it is largely because of policy choices, including those made by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, a cartel that can manipulate the oil supply to suit its members, or by individual governments like the United States, which has banned oil exploration on most of the coastline for three decades.
“Energy is not that complicated, but those who want to make it complicated can,” he said.
Citing President Richard Nixon’s 1973 declaration that the U. S. would achieve energy independence, Hofmeister said: “If we can’t do it in 35 years, major change isn’t likely to happen.” But, he added, the framework for decision-making could be altered for the better by “doing for energy what the Federal Reserve does for money” — taking politics out of the process.
In addition to his energy advocacy role, Hofmeister also is chairman of the National Urban League.
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