INDIANAPOLIS – Confounding critics who allege that nothing of global intellectual value can emerge from the Hoosier state, the senior senator from Indiana on Jan. 4 hurled down the gauntlet against carbon and fossil fuel addiction.

U.S. Sen. Richard Lugar made his scheduled remarks less than 48 hours after the price of oil topped the $100-a-barrel mark. This was an ironic milestone if one considers that Lugar first called for energy reform years ago when oil went at the now-impossible-to-believe $20 a barrel.

“An energy revolution is occurring that will transform the world economy. Indiana can be at the center of it,” the senator declared to about 300 state business and academic leaders on the Indiana University-Purdue University at Indianapolis (IUPUI) campus.

Speaking at his namesake Richard G. Lugar Renewable Energy Center at IUPUI, Lugar delivered an eloquent national message of warning and hope specifically addressed to “the next president”.

Quoting Martin Wolf from the Financial Times of London, Lugar said: “Neoclassical economics analyzed economic growth in terms of capital, labor and technical progress. I now think it is more enlightening to view the fundamental drivers as energy and ideas.”

What’s the upshot of this change for Indiana? Lugar declared: “If Wolf is correct – and I believe he is – the Lugar Center and others seeking advances in energy technology are at the absolute core of our economic future.”

The dark side of Lugar’s address dealt with burgeoning and unsustainable demand for fossil fuels by 2030 that are driven in large measure by emerging economic giants such as China. According to the International Energy Agency, global demand for all forms of energy will increase by 50 percent in less than 25 years.

“Three quarters of this demand growth is likely to happen in the developing world,” Lugar explained, “with 45 percent happening in China and India alone.” The bad news, the senator intoned, is this estimate predicts that no less than 84 percent of this new demand will come from fossil fuels. He added: “This translates into a 57 percent increase in carbon dioxide emissions.”

As a result of soaring prices, the sovereign wealth funds of oil-exporting nations doubled between 2001 and 2005 with area national investment reserves now topping an eye-popping $2.9 trillion. Always casting his eye on a global view, Lugar is worried about China energy demand growth.

“Perhaps the most sobering energy-related statistics emanate from China,” he said. “On average, two new coal-fired electricity plants are completed in China each week.” This feeds the growing superpower’s ravenous craving for fresh energy.

“China’s voracious appetite for coal to feed its industrialization efforts is reflected in the huge annual death toll in Chinese coal mines,” the senator told the somber group. Lugar pointed out that more than 4,700 Chinese coal miners lost their lives in mine accidents in 2006.

The events in China underscore one glaring fact: The United States can no longer make and execute energy policy unilaterally through conventional thinking.

“In the absence of revolutionary changes in energy policy, we will be risking multiple hazards for our country that could constrain living standards, undermine our foreign policy goals and leave us highly vulnerable to economic and political disasters with an almost existential impact,” Lugar said.

He continued: “Advancements in American energy security have been painfully slow. Political leadership has been defensive rather than proactive.”

So where do we stand now? He added: “Our energy vulnerability is intensified by the increasing percentage of U.S. public debt – now 44 percent – held by foreign entities and the dimming luster of the dollar. A very significant recession could be triggered by economic or geopolitical forces over which we have little control.”

To those running for president, Lugar said the issues of energy, energy development and energy security “should be the most important topics of the 2008 presidential election. Whoever is sworn in as president in 2009 must elevate energy security to the status of a core national goal and must directly engage all the American people in the solution.”

Departing from his typical conciliatory statements, Lugar minced no words in calling for a near-emergency bipartisan effort to resolve the impending energy crisis. With gas prices expected to top the $4 mark in some places by this spring, Lugar said that the new president in 2009 “must be relentless”.

Warning that future aides would urge caution in any president taking this political risk, Lugar stated: “The president must be willing to have his or her administration judged according to its success or failure on this issue.”

Noting that academics and research scholars are already at work at the IUPUI renewable energy center, Lugar concluded: “The next president must demand that research projects related to battery technology, cellulosic ethanol, carbon capture and storage, solar and wind power and dozens of other technologies receive the highest priority within the administration.”

Michael Snyder is principal of The MEK Group, a marketing and business development consulting firm that provides communications-driven strategies to increase market share, enhance productivity and build distinctive brand awareness. Snyder can be reached at msnyder@themekgroup.com.
Click here for Snyder’s full biography.

Previous Columns in 2007:
Indiana’s Top 10 Best Technology Achievements, Worst Developmnets in 2007 (12/27/2007)
Vontoo, ExactTarget Bearing Holiday Gifts For Major Indiana Investor (12/20/2007)
Nathan Feltman: 2007 Indiana Growth Blazes on Record-Setting Pace (12/13/2007)
Indiana Rapidly Moving Toward Technology-Based Economy (12/6/2007)
Purdue’s New President: Growth Plans Reaching For the Stars (11/29/2007)
Entrepreneurs Swamp Indiana; Milestone Tech Summit on Deck (11/18/2007)
Second-Annual Entrepreneur Week Starts in Indiana on Nov. 5 (11/1/2007)
BioCrossroadsLINX to Bond Critical Indiana Biotech Assets (10/25/2007)
Burrill, BioCrossroads Conference: Indiana Life Sciences Expansion on Deck (10/19/2007)
Convergence Drives Runaway Success For Hoosier Biotech (10/11/2007)
‘Deals Are Getting Done, Market is Open’ in Indiana, CBRE Says (10/5/2007)
Nanotechnology ‘Backbone of Development’ Expands With Grant (9/27/2007)
Big Changes Under Way For $6 Billion Defense Industry in Indiana (9/13/2007)
Indiana is ‘Undisputed Juggernaut in Attracting Japanese Investment’ (9/7/2007)
High-End IT Professionals: Indiana’s Exploding Tech Industry Needs You (8/30/2007)
Indiana Biodiesel Plant a ‘Strategic Centerpiece’ For French Fuel Giant (8/23/2007)
China: Half a Billion in Indiana Exports and Growing Exponentially (8/16/2007)
Indiana University: New $2 Billion Partner For Economic Development (8/9/2007)
Message From ad:tech Chicago: Ignore Consumer Voice at Your Peril (8/2/2007)
Indiana Gov. Daniels: WestGate to Be ‘Flagship’ of Tech, Engineering (7/26/2007)
Taxpayer Revolt: A Constitutional Convention For Indiana? (7/19/2007)
$100 Million Formula One Rolls Out of Indianapolis, Won’t Return in 2008 (7/12/2007)
State of Indiana’s Defense Business: $4.6 Billion and Growing (7/5/2007)
Purdue Simulation of World Trade Center Impact Could Improve Design, Safety (6/21/2007)
Nobel Prize Winners, Scholars Primed For ‘Premier Conference’ in Indianapolis (6/14/2007)
2012: Repeat of 1859 Solar ‘Super Storm’ Catastrophe? (6/7/2007)
Indianapolis 500: 220 Miles Per Hour on 100 Percent Fuel-Grade Ethanol (5/31/2007)
‘Baby Steps’ For Marcadia Biotech in Indiana Grow Into ‘Giant Leaps’ (5/22/2007)
Indiana Legislature Scores Big With Innovative Patent Tax Credit (5/10/2007)
IEDC to Showcase Hoosier ‘Best, Brightest’ at BIO 2007 in Boston (5/3/2007)
‘Little 500’ Bike Race Sports 21st Century Indiana University RFID (4/26/2007)
Manufacturing Critical For Global Success, Indiana Expert Says (4/19/2007)
First-Ever Indiana Robotic Proton System Nukes Deep Tumors (4/12/2007)
Purdue’s Discovery Park a $350 Million ‘Driver For Change’ (4/5/2007)
Cellulosic Fuels, Ag Tech to Play Key Role in Indiana’s Future (3/30/2007)
With FCC Deadline Looming, Indiana Ponders Telemedicine (3/22/2007)
Realigned TechPoint Set to Energize Indiana IT Growth (3/15/2007)
Indiana General Assembly on Tech: Chaos or Collaboration? (3/9/2007)
Indiana DSI Initiative Sets New Vision of Innovative, Large-Scale Tech Transfer (3/1/2007)
No ‘Corn Dot-Com Bust’ For Indiana Ethanol, Says Ag Secretary Miller (2/15/2007)
Battelle Report: Indiana Biosciences Again Established as National Player (2/8/2007)
Indiana Defense Muscle Grows With West Gate Tech Park Expansion (2/1/2007)
Twenty in 10: President Bush Leaps Future of Hoosier Biofuels Forward (1/25/2007)
Outlook on Indiana-Based Biofuels, World Markets: ‘We’re Ready’ (1/18/2007)
ChaCha in Indiana Attracts Funding From Amazon, Compaq Founders (1/11/2007)
Purdue Ethanol Tech May Render Current Fuel Production ‘Obsolete’ (1/5/2007)
Click for 2006 column archive.
Click for 2005 column archive.

E-Mail This Article to a Friend or Colleague
View This Article in Printer-Friendly Format