Energy undersecretary pitches energy diversity at Southpointe
CECIL – Anyone who is past the half-century mark will probably remember the energy crisis that swept across the Western world in the 1970s.
The long lines at gas stations. Home thermostats nudged down. President Jimmy Carter delivering a fireside chat in a sweater.
At Southpointe’s Hilton Garden Inn Tuesday, Mark W. Menezes, an undersecretary in the U.S. Energy Department, said the energy crisis was not about a lack of petroleum, but a lack of innovation.
“We never had an energy shortage,” Menezes explained. “What we had was a shortage of ingenuity. We had lost our confidence in our ability to innovate.”
Speaking before a group of business officials and lawmakers in what was billed as an energy and manufacturing forum presented by the advocacy group Consumer Energy Alliance, Menezes told them that the Trump administration is implementing an “all-of-the-above” energy strategy that includes fossil fuels and renewables. Menezes also underscored the fact that, unlike in the the 1970s, the United States is now largely self-sufficient when it comes to energy production.
“Innovation has a powerful friend in the Oval Office, and across the entire administration,” Menezes said.
He also said the administration was committed to protecting the environment and creating jobs.
“It’s not an either-or choice,” Menezes said.
Menezes is one of three undersecretaries in the Energy Department, with his counterparts managing portfolios that include science and nuclear security. Before joining the administration, the Louisiana native was an executive with Berkshire Hathaway Energy, and was also a chief counsel for the U.S. House of Representatives’ Energy and Commerce Committee.
Menezes also discussed the administration’s support of building energy infrastructure, here and abroad, and the approval earlier this month of the Better Utilization of Investment Leading to Development, or BUILD Act, which would encourage private-sector investment building infrastructure and starting businesses in developing countries.