Published Sunday, June 22, 2008

Camp: Westmoreland's speech misleading

The Times-Herald

Is U.S. Rep. Lynn Westmoreland's simple "drill now" solution to combat high gasoline prices a feasible fix?

Newnan attorney Stephen Camp -- running as a Democrat against Westmoreland, a Republican, in the November General Election -- says no.

"The facts are much more complicated," Camp said. "From our perspective, Westmoreland is taking the same reactionary approach as President Bush -- he promises it's a solution for right now, when it literally won't do one penny's worth of work for years. It does not represent a common sense approach to governance."

Camp said while he is not discounting the idea of domestic oil production, he feels alternative energies should be emphasized. "It's not a simple matter of 'drill now,' so to speak," he said. "Sometimes it takes hard work to solve tough problems like this."

During recent appearances in Coweta, Westmoreland has focused on gasoline prices and energy issues. On May 29, he told members of the White Oak Golden K civic club at a meeting in the Special Events Center that America has sufficient oil and shale resources but must exert the political will to use them. "We are sitting on -- in this country -- the largest reserve of shale oil," Westmoreland said.

"Green is a very popular word," the congressman noted. "All of that sounds good, but we cannot conserve our way out of the energy crisis we're in," Westmoreland said.

He said there has been lots of discussion about windmills and solar panels, but using both -- under optimum conditions -- would produce only about three percent of the energy the nation needs. To put lots of emphasis on such programs is "just crazy," he said.

According to Camp, Westmoreland's speech was "misleading, filled with oversimplifications and, on several points, substantively dishonest . . . People need an honest assessment of the problem and feasible ways to solve it, not more partisan rhetoric."

"A primary reason oil shale is not used for our energy production is economic. It is much more difficult and costly to produce commercial oil products from oil shale than it is from an oil field. Oil shale has never been cost-competitive with conventional petroleum," Camp said.

He also said converting oil shale into gasoline in the conventional way is a particularly dirty process that would most likely take place near populated areas. Rock must be mined from underground, crushed, heated and processed, creating large amounts of toxic waste that may pollute air and water nearby.

Shell Oil has been working on an extraction process called in-situ retorting, where the oil shale would be heated while still underground and the resulting liquid extracted, Camp said. "This technology is not ready for large-scale deployment, however," he said, citing a report from RAND Corporation. The non-profit research institute estimates that growing this industry so that it was producing one million barrels of oil per day would take 20 years, while the U.S. already uses 20 million barrels on a daily basis.

"The large scale development of oil shale would also make it extremely difficult, if not infeasible, to meet goals established under the Bush administration for reducing greenhouse gas emissions," Camp said. Some sources indicate oil shale development would increase gas emissions by up to 52 percent over conventional petroleum, he said.

"Congressman Westmoreland is trying to sell a 'solution' that is cost-prohibitive, undeveloped and uncertain -- one that would take us backward in conservation efforts in our own backyard," he said.

"Although Lynn Westmoreland has been in Congress since 2004, it doesn't seem like he has drilled down or explored the issue of America's energy policy very thoroughly," Camp said.

Camp went on to call Westmoreland's data on windmills and solar panels energy production "flat wrong."

"A recent Department of Energy report indicates that 20 percent of the country's power could come from wind by 2030, roughly the same timeline required for oil shale development to produce 5 percent of our energy," he said. "There are challenges here, too, but the difference is that wind-turbine technology is proven."

"We owe it to ourselves and our children, though, to embrace cost-effective solutions that conserve our natural resources here at home," he said. "Everyone feels the sting of the rising cost of gas and home energy bills and is concerned about the threat that foreign-oil dependence poses to our economy and national security. These are not partisan problems or issues."

Following Westmoreland's June 12 presentation of a petition on the U.S. House floor asking congressmen to sign in support of an increase in American oil production, he participated in a question-and-answer session at the Thomas Crossroads Publix community room. During the June 16 event sponsored by the Coweta County Republican Women, Westmoreland said, "We need to have the ability for us to use our own natural resources."

"There is no next step for that petition, no legal affect or impact," Camp said in response. "It's all smoke and mirrors . . . a piece of showmanship. It doesn't deliver on what it promises."

"[The problem] can't be solved with a one-sentence petition," he said.

Camp, a Newnan native, works as an attorney for Trammell Camp, LLC, where he advises individuals and businesses in Coweta County and surrounding areas on employment law, medical leave, wage disputes and related issues. He and wife Katie live in Newnan with their 2-year-old son, Jack.