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January 2, 2007
NEWSLETTER
Happy New Year! We wish everyone a healthy, prosperous and
rewarding 2007.
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MARK YOUR CALENDARS FOR APRIL 16-18
AES NATIONAL SUMMIT IN WASHINGTON, D.C. |
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We invite you to
attend the 2007 American Energy Security National
Summit, to be held at the Hilton Alexandria Mark Center
near Washington D.C. on April 16, 17 and 18. Please
mark you calendars. More information will be
forthcoming and will be posted on our website at:
www.AmericanEnergySecurity.org. Subscribe to our
email list from the website to be sure you do not miss
important information. |
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The purpose of this
high-level Summit is to discuss the
findings of the American Energy Security Study
and plan a road map for implementation of the
tenets and recommendations suggested for
Congress and for state and local governments.
This initiative will be led by Governor Joe
Manchin of West Virginia (Chairman of the
Southern States Energy Board) and State Senator
John Watkins of Virginia (Vice Chairman of the
Southern States Energy Board). |
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The Summit will highlight the need for safety,
security, reliability, and stability in America’s liquid
transportation fuels sector and the need for energy
independence from current, unreliable suppliers of
foreign oil. The findings of the American Energy
Security Study will be discussed in detail. This will
feature the historic opportunities to stimulate American
economic growth and industrial revitalization through
the aggressive ramp-up of domestic alternative
transportation fuel production. |
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Federal, state, industry, and academic leaders
will discuss their roles in charting a new course for
the Nation. The focus will be on federal, state, and
local legislation needed to jump start new liquid
transportation fuels industries; America’s vast
alternative fuels resource base; the role of technology
in the production of ultra-clean fuels from near-zero
emissions plants; and how the necessary level of
national will can be developed through leadership
and education. |
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A number of short courses will also be offered
in important topics such as gasification and
Fischer-Tropsch synthesis, biomass gasification and
pyrolysis, financing alternative energy projects, and the productive use and sequestration of
carbon dioxide to enhance the recovery of oil and gas
and to accelerate the production of bio-energy crops.
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The program will build a secure bridge to
energy independence and a sustainable energy future.
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LEGISLATIVE LEADERSHIP
Kentucky General Assembly Enacts Energy Security
Package
Landmark Adkins Bill Leads National Efforts |
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In a landmark measure that is being viewed in
legislative circles as groundbreaking state
legislation, the Kentucky General Assembly
passed the nation’s first major American energy
security bill during its 2006 legislative
session on March 24. “The Kentucky Energy
Security National Leadership Act,” known as
House Bill 299, was developed and sponsored by
House Majority Leader Rocky Adkins. A member of
the Southern States Energy Board, Representative
Adkins is a leading proponent of the Board’s
American Energy Security Study, which was
unanimously passed by the Board on July 17,
2006. “The real significance of House Bill 299,
“according to Adkins, “is that it is a
bipartisan measure that passed the General
Assembly without a single negative vote,
signifying a unified concern for the energy
future of our country.” |
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Of concern to Kentucky’s legislators is that our
country imports approximately 60 percent of its
petroleum needs and nearly half of these
products come from highly unstable regions and
countries. Petroleum imports are the single
largest cause of the Nation’s global trade
imbalance, a major cause of inflation and
economic slowdown. “The price of crude oil
drives up the cost of gasoline, home heating oil
and natural gas for commercial and industrial
purposes. We need to develop our own liquid
transportation fuels in this country from
indigenous natural resources such as coal,
biomass and oil shale,” said Adkins. |
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Kentucky legislators assert that the development
of an alternative transportation fuels industry
in the United States will create a long-term,
reliable demand for coal and plentiful biomass
resources from the Commonwealth’s agricultural
community. Environmentally superior
transportation fuels can be produced from carbon
neutral co-firing coal and biomass processes
that capture and remove virtually all
pollutants. |
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House Bill 299 calls for the Kentucky Governor’s
Office of Energy Policy to develop and implement
a strategy for the production of transportation
fuels and synthetic natural gas from fossil
energy and biomass resources. Of significance
is that the strategy addresses not only
available technologies, but also the necessary
research and demonstration for implementation of
new commercial-scale construction. The measure
further seeks synergy between the Office of
Energy Policy and Kentucky’s universities to
optimize opportunities for coordination of
policies and technologies at the state level. |
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State government incentives in the Bill include
financing, tax and bonding authority, purchases
of alternative transportation fuels by state
government and school districts and preliminary
environmental assessment of industrial sites for
the construction of coal-to-liquids and other
alternative fuels facilities. Renewable fuel
energy use and deployment includes solar, wind,
hydro and other sources. |
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On or before December 1, 2006, and every three
months thereafter, the Office of Energy Policy
is to report its findings and any further
legislative recommendations to the Governor and
the Special Legislative Subcommittee on Energy. |
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Funding appropriated by the Kentucky General
Assembly for the Implementation Phase of the
Southern States Energy Board’s American Energy
Security Study will total $100,000 in 2007. |
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A copy of Kentucky House Bill 299 is available
on the American Energy Security website at: www.americanenergysecurity.org/news.html |
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