Kirk/Biggert: U.S. "Moon Shot" Program to Get Off Foreign Oil

Press Release

"Apollo Energy Independence Act" on the scale of NASA's most successful program to lower gas prices, boost alternative energies and improve energy efficiency

Chicago gas prices leading the nation at $4.25/gallon

Staff estimate: Act would decrease foreign oil use by approximately 700 percent

With Chicagoland leading the nation in gas prices, U.S. Representatives Mark Kirk and Judy Biggert joined with environmental, business and research leaders today to announce new legislation dramatically boosting the federal government's commitment to energy independence. With the backdrop of Chicago's premier space museum, the Adler Planetarium, the legislation is modeled on NASA's $20 billion effort to land an American on the moon. The "Apollo Energy Independence Act" establishes long-term market incentives to spur breakthroughs for the development and deployment of alternative energies, vehicles and fuel. Increases in support for alternative energy are offset by spending reductions in earmark and subsidy programs to ensure the bill does not require additional borrowing or taxes.

"Forty-seven years ago, President Kennedy pledged to send man to the moon," Congressman Kirk said. "We need a similar 'moon shot' program to end our dependence on foreign oil. The Apollo Act taps the greatest asset of the United States, Yankee ingenuity and free markets, to boost alternative vehicles and increase renewable energies to get off foreign oil. By cutting funding for low-priority programs, we can fund a massive effort to end our dependence on the Middle East."

"We have to acknowledge that America cannot meet today's energy needs -- much less tomorrow's -- with yesterday's energy infrastructure and technology," said U.S. Rep. Judy Biggert, a senior member of the House Science and Technology Committee. "From plug-in hybrids to hydrogen fuel cells, the next generation of alternative energy solutions is around the corner, but we must make the investments necessary to accelerate their development and deployment."

According to the Department of Energy, the Middle East holds 61 percent of the world's proven oil reserves. North America only has 5 percent.

Foreign oil represents the largest segment of the United States' energy consumption, with renewable energies accounting for less than seven percent. Unless there is a dramatic effort to change our consumption, energy demand is expected to rise by nearly 20 percent by 2030 according to the Department of Energy.

The Apollo Energy Independence Act is a $23 billion initiative to provide market incentives to produce and deploy alternative energy, reducing our dependence on foreign oil.

The Act offers tax and market incentives in four categories to promote energy independence, including:

Enhancing development and production of alternative and renewable energies;

Improving energy efficiency in appliances, homes and commercial buildings;

Enhancing production and deployment of alternative vehicles and fuel incentives such as hybrid, plug-in hybrid, plug-in hybrid fuel cell, plug-in hybrid electric, flex fuel and hydrogen vehicles;

Reducing consumer energy and gasoline costs by encouraging public transportation, ending fuel monopolies and eliminating trade barriers to cheap foreign ethanol.

Americans currently import 12 million barrels of oil daily. The policies of the Apollo Act could decrease foreign oil consumption by up to 10 million barrels per day by 2030, according to a study commissioned by the National Hydrogen Association (NHA). At today's crude oil prices, this would save America over $500 billion annually.

If the proposals established in the Apollo Energy Act are implemented, renewable energy use would increase by more than 320 percent and comprise the largest segment of U.S. energy use. Foreign oil use would plummet by more than 730 percent. Estimates from the NHA, the American Council on Renewable Energy (ACORE) and the Energy Information Administration (EIA) place the potential U.S. energy profile at:

To fund this effort, the legislation cuts federal funding for congressional earmarks and agriculture subsidies while consolidating a number of lower priority government functions. By spurring new energy technology, resulting spin-offs promise to generate additional economic growth and jobs. According to NASA, since 1976 more than 1,500 technologies emerged from the space program, creating thousands of new jobs and industries.

Reps. Kirk and Biggert were joined by Ed Daniels, Energy Systems Director at Argonne National Laboratory and Matt Davis, Great Lakes Region Manager for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

Daniels discussed the pioneering research taking place at Argonne National Laboratory, including new plug-in-hybrids which could get up to 100 mpg under its battery mode. The Apollo Act authorizes $150 million for research and development of advanced vehicles, such as the plug-in hybrid, that promise to help dramatically reduce foreign oil use.

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