THE ENERGY OPPORTUNITY - The Power Surge: Energy, Opportunity, and the Battle for America's Future - page 202

Some proposals will fail this test because, even if they are pursued,
they won't have the potential for much impact, good or bad; they'll
simply distract policymakers and create opportunities for missteps.
Other proposals should be rejected because they can yield big wins
on one front only at the expense of big losses elsewhere. Overly aggres-
sive fuel economy mandates fall in this category: the environmental
and security gains come at the expense of excessively large economic
costs. (Determining when costs are “excessive,” and hence mandates are
“overly aggressive,” comes down to detailed analysis of the costs and
benei ts of specii c policies; recently implemented mandates generally
have benei ts that are projected to substantially exceed their costs.) So
would ef orts to open up protected lands to oil drilling if they went too
far; they would deliver gains, but only at the expense of big environ-
mental losses. Policymakers should steer clear of such moves.
h e good news is that big advances across the board in American
energy have greatly expanded the set of opportunities clearing both
bars—opportunities that are both large and, in substantial part because
of recent gains in American energy, don't require stark trade-of s. Careful
carbon pricing or a clean energy standard can deliver big climate gains
without het y economic or security costs. 2 Strong but sensible fuel
economy standards, or a modest oil tax, either of which would have
substantial security and environmental benei ts, can be implemented
without punishing economic costs. Smart government support for
innovation in emerging technologies such as advanced cars, renewable
energy, and carbon capture, including through direct subsidies or other
support for early deployment, can deliver increasingly large returns as
markets for those technologies grow. Making room for greater oil pro-
duction by expanding access to deposits can yield economic gains with-
out developing massive tracts of specially protected land. h e same is
true for natural gas, which can also deliver big benei ts for national secu-
rity and climate change. Implementing solid environmental regulations
for oil and gas development can be done without crushing production
from those sources; indeed, by boosting public coni dence that energy
production is safe, they are actually essential to reliable development
over the long run. h ese are the big, clear wins U.S. leaders should

prioritize.