DOE is working to promote alternatives such as biofuels and electric vehicles, Chu said. Chu: DOE working to wean U.S. off oil

Editor’s Note: An earlier version of this story mischaracterized the testimony of Energy Secretary Steven Chu. He did not say that the Energy Department isn’t working to lower gasoline prices directly. Rather, when Rep. Alan Nunnelee asked Chu whether the department’s “overall goal” is to “get our price —”, Chu interrupted him and said: “No, the overall goal is to decrease our dependency on oil, to build and strengthen our economy,” adding that the administration’s policies will “help the American economy and the American consumers.”

The Energy Department is working to decrease U.S. dependence on oil, Secretary Steven Chu said Tuesday after a Republican lawmaker scolded him for his now-infamous 2008 comment that gas prices in the U.S. should be as high as in Europe.


DOE is working to promote alternatives such as biofuels and electric vehicles, Chu told House appropriators during a hearing on DOE’s budget.

But Americans need relief now, Rep. Alan Nunnelee (R-Miss.) said — not high gasoline prices that could eventually push them to alternatives.

“I can’t look at motivations. I have to look at results. And under this administration, the price of gasoline has doubled,” Nunnelee told Chu.

“The people of north Mississippi can’t be here, so I have to be here and be their voice for them,” Nunnelee added. “I have to tell you that $8-a-gallon gasoline makes them afraid. It’s a cruel tax on the people of north Mississippi as they try to go back and forth to work. It’s a cloud hanging over economic development and job creation.”

Chu expressed sympathy but said his department is working to lower energy prices in the long term.

“We agree there is great suffering when the price of gasoline increases in the United States, and so we are very concerned about this,” said Chu, speaking to the House Appropriations energy and water subcommittee. “As I have repeatedly said, in the Department of Energy, what we’re trying to do is diversify our energy supply for transportation so that we have cost-effective means.”

Chu specifically cited a reported breakthrough announced Monday by Envia Systems, which received funding from DOE’s ARPA-E, that could help slash the price of electric vehicle batteries.

He also touted natural gas as “great” and said DOE is researching how to reduce the cost of compressed natural gas tanks for vehicles.

High gasoline prices will make research into such alternatives more urgent, Chu said.

“But is the overall goal to get our price —”, asked Nunnelee, who didn’t finish the sentence.

“No, the overall goal is to decrease our dependency on oil, to build and strengthen our economy,” Chu replied.

He added: “We think that if you consider all these policies, including energy efficiency, you know, we think that we can go a lot, a long way to becoming less dependent on oil and [diversifying] our supply and we’ll help the American economy and the American consumers.”

Tapping the Strategic Petroleum Reserve — as some congressional Democrats have advocated — is on the table but may not fit this situation, Chu added.

“Remember that the fundamental reason why we have an SPR is to deal with an interruption in supply,” he told reporters after the hearing. “What happened in Libya was an interruption in supply. We’re very concerned about what’s happening in Iran, and so we’re working with the [International Energy Agency]. We’re also looking very closely at all these concerns.”

A DOE spokeswoman later clarified that the department is working with the IEA on monitoring global oil supply and prices, not on a specific release from the reserve.

After this story appeared, the Energy Department issued the following response:

"This report is false. In the hearing Tuesday, the secretary repeatedly reiterated his concern about the impact that increased prices at the pump are having on families, and that we continue to do all we can to provide relief. That said there are no quick fixes, which is why this administration has taken steps to continue to expand production, dramatically increase the efficiency of the vehicles we drive and invest in alternate fuels — all with an ultimate goal of reducing our reliance on foreign oil and protecting American families from the ups and downs of the international oil market."

CORRECTION: Corrected by: Alex Byers @ 03/02/2012 05:10 PM Editor’s Note: An earlier version of this story mischaracterized the testimony of Energy Secretary Steven Chu. He did not say that the Energy Department isn’t working to lower gasoline prices directly. Rather, when Rep. Alan Nunnelee asked Chu whether the department’s “overall goal” is to “get our price —”, Chu interrupted him and said: “No, the overall goal is to decrease our dependency on oil, to build and strengthen our economy,” adding that the administration’s policies will “help the American economy and the American consumers.”