George Shultz, the Thomas W. and Susan B. Ford Distinguished Fellow at the Hoover Institution and member of the Shultz-Stephenson Task Force on Energy Policy, and James Sweeney, member of the Shultz-Stephenson Task Force on Energy Policy, are also members of the California Secure Transportation Energy Partnership (CalSTEP), formed in 2005 to resolve transportation energy issues for California. CalSTEP feels that California has both the ability and the need to reduce oil dependence and transportation-related emissions in the near term, but that it must act now to ensure our transportation energy security.
CalSTEP members recently released a report with several recommendations for reducing California’s dependency on oil. Those include stringent vehicle and fuel standards, auto insurance that rewards those who drive less, and 26 percent of transportation fuel used in California coming from alternative sources by 2022. The report also recommends adding a penny-a-gallon “fuel fee,” to increase by a penny a month over the next ten years, to fund public transportation. Click here to view the full report.
Shultz notes that when the price of oil goes up we look for alternatives, but lose interest when the price of oil goes down. The instability of the Middle East and thus the world oil markets should be the impetus to finally passing significant energy legislation.
