Energy bill can boost American innovation

Amid the storm of party-line bickering and election-year hyperbole, it’s easy to lose faith in Congress. Perhaps nowhere is this truer than in our difficult national conversation on energy. And yet, through the madness of 2016 politics, House and Senate energy leadership have nearly succeeded in the seemingly impossible: crafting substantive, bipartisan legislation that would update our nation’s energy policies for the first time in a decade — and that just might start to mend public faith in a stymied Congress. While the past decade has demonstrated that America’s energy industry leads the world in innovation, the legislation now in conference would further boost America’s engineers and innovators to create jobs in virtually every corner of the energy industry.

Put simply, the world has changed a lot since the last energy bill was passed under the second Bush administration. Then, we were grappling with skyrocketing prices at the pump. Today, gasoline sells at historic lows, thanks to fracking technologies innovated here in the U.S. Behind the scenes, even more fundamental changes have reshaped our energy industries. We’ve overtaken Saudi Arabia to become the top global oil producer and have even outpaced Russia in gas production. Abundant natural gas has supplanted coal as the primary fuel for electricity, significantly lowering emissions along the way. Solar, wind and battery prices are dropping fast — but power grids struggle to incorporate ever larger amounts of “intermittent” renewable energy.

{mosads}These price declines, driven by prior national commitments to energy innovation, obscure the reality that we still have far to go to achieve stable, economical clean energy to meet the diverse needs of our advanced economy. Failing to do so risks economic opportunities today and American competitiveness in the global economy tomorrow.

A few examples: While we remain complacent with hydropower plant delays and millions in additional costs extracted by anti-dam campaigners, Brazil recently added more hydropower with one plant than America managed in a decade. While 80-year-old bureaucratic hurdles delay American natural gas exports, Vladimir Putin continues to flex his geopolitical influence with Russian natural gas throughout Europe and Asia. And while radical environmentalists oppose all fossil development, including clean coal technologies that could be exported to improve the environment, over 1,200 coal plants are being planned for construction globally.

Congressional leaders have taken note and refused to remain complacent. They recognize that further investment in American energy innovation is imperative to continued prosperity at home and influence abroad.

Last December, the House voted to pass a bill that would bring our energy policies into the 21st century. Later in April, the Senate overwhelmingly passed a bipartisan equivalent. Despite President Obama’s veto threat on certain provisions, members are resolving their differences in bicameral conference. We applaud both chambers of Congress for their initiative. Together, they make key reforms to enable America’s innovators.

Both bills require the Department of Energy to lay the groundwork for the next generation of nuclear technologies. The national labs would begin planning a critical testbed for advanced reactors here in the U.S. Today, our “fourth generation” nuclear entrepreneurs, including a startup backed by Bill Gates, must travel to Russia to test their designs.

On natural gas, the Senate legislation would create a program to explore a potentially revolutionary new resource called “methane hydrates,” gas that’s been trapped in frozen ice or under ocean sediments. Early research shows it could meet America’s gas needs for 4,000 years. The bills also speed permitting for exporting liquefied natural gas.

On coal technologies, the energy bill authorizes over $500 million each year for research and development to address a burgeoning international opportunity that can balance the world’s demands for cheap electricity and clean air. The technology, called “carbon capture” or clean coal, isn’t a pipe dream. First-generation demonstration plants already use captured gases to produce valuable chemicals, increase domestic oil production and make fertilizer.

On hydropower, the Senate bill would authorize $50 million in funding for the National Marine Hydrokinetic Research Center to refine electricity creation from the limitless power of ocean waves. In addition, the bill modernizes key permitting hurdles that should maintain and expand hydropower’s role as our largest on-demand clean energy source.

Lastly, the Senate bill updates our national R&D engine, first by boosting the Energy Department’s Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) budget by $315 million over five years. ARPA-E is a pilot research program that unlocks game-changing breakthroughs with the highest likelihood of private sector application. At the same time, the bill cuts the regulatory burden on our scientists, allowing them more flexibility to partner with the private sector to ensure the relevance of their research in the marketplace.

There’s still plenty of work ahead before these ideas become law. With lawmakers now in position to act, we again urge them to quickly resolve their differences and seize this opportunity. Since the average American’s interactions with electricity start and stop with flipping a light switch, it’s understandable that energy innovation is often not top of mind. But affordable and reliable clean energy is the lifeblood of the modern economy and a vital growth engine.

American ingenuity is by far the world’s most important fuel source. Let’s keep it that way.

Powell is the managing director of policy and strategy for ClearPath Action, whose mission is to accelerate conservative clean energy solutions. Guith is the senior vice president for policy at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Institute for 21st Century Energy (Energy Institute).