Return to story

Energy, manufacturing: Bring 'em back home

September 30, 2008 12:15 am

WITH THE presi- dential campaign in full swing, both parties are promising to fix the economy, which is widely accepted as the greatest issue on voters' minds.

Rather than sort through the mountain of promises as to how this should be accomplished, I would offer two critical indicators of seriousness: Does the candidate advocate a full-court press to address the energy crisis and will he take serious steps to restore America's manufacturing sector?

Without addressing both issues, I would consign a presidential candidate's promises to fix the economy as so much hot air!

Solving America's energy crisis requires a strong commitment, sans lobbyists and special interests, using virtually all the means at our disposal. The U.S. sends almost $2 billion for imported oil and goods each day to nations that may not share our values. This is ludicrous, and must be changed.

First, we must accept that oil will be the primary energy source in the near term and aggressively drill for it, in an environmentally safe manner, wherever it may be found. Concurrently, we should encourage use of alternate forms of energy such as hydrogen, wind, solar, and nuclear, coupled with new conservation measures. Over time, their cost will decrease and our use of imported oil will decrease. These alternate forms should not emphasize corn-based ethanol production, which has increased consumer food costs and is a major source of ground-water pollution due to the increased need for fertilizers.

The second indicator, restoring America's manufacturing sector, is much more contentious as it requires that the whole notion of free trade be re-evaluated. In this century, Americans were promised that manufacturing jobs, long the path to middle-class status, were to be replaced by good-paying service industry positions, only to see those jobs outsourced.

One only needs to drive away from the D.C.-Virginia-Maryland metropolitan area to see what has occurred in the rest of America. Wage growth for families is essentially stagnant, while our trade deficit approaches new heights, mitigated only by increased exports of raw materials, foodstuffs, and selected manufactured products. Numerous categories of goods, most notably computers and electronics, are now manufactured exclusively overseas, placing our national security hostage to the good intentions of others.

In the name of globalization, we outsource manufacturing to countries with little interest in protecting the environment or providing a decent standard of living to their workers, while simultaneously providing the largest defense establishment in the world--funded by American consumers--to ensure the safe transit of those goods. Too often, we purchase those goods from nations that oppose our values, or are content to allow us to protect their commerce.

While our own environmental regulations impose an economic cost to our businesses, we allow other countries to pollute at will. If ever there was a business model that was guaranteed to fail, this would certainly be the one!

DARE WE SAY IT? TARIFFS!

We need to address these inequities by imposing surcharges--yes, tariffs!--on goods from countries that are capable of assisting our common defense but refuse to share the economic burden. Many of our European allies enjoy the free ride and protection provided by America's $500 billion defense establishment, while reducing their own militaries to insignificance. Tariffs should also be imposed on those countries whose lack of environmental regulation gives them an unfair competitive advantage over American manufacturers.

Not all classes of goods or trading partners need the imposition of tariffs, but there are smart people who can determine which categories of manufacturing are essential to our well-being and how great a tariff is required to reconcile the unfair advantage we extend to our competitors.

Two things will occur, one immediately and the other more gradually. Big businesses and their well-funded lobbyists will rise up and clamor against any measures that inhibit their ability to outsource jobs or diminish profits from outsourced operations. Rather than fulfill their obligations to the social contract that binds us as a nation, too many companies have allowed greed to supplant patriotism and social responsibility. This must be reversed, either by voluntary action or legislation.

More gradual, however, will be the restoration of America's manufacturing sector and the decent standard of living it provides to its workers. Workers with a middle-class standard of living pay taxes, afford health care, and reduce the burden of services funded by taxpayers.

A nation of consumers dependent upon others for its energy and manufactured goods mortgages its future to countries that may not wish it well. This increasingly dire situation is reversible, but it requires national leadership and commitment from its citizens. It would serve us well to closely observe John McCain and Barack Obama during this campaign to see if they intend to meet the challenge.

Hank Scharpenberg chaired the Stafford County Illegal Immigration Task Force. He lives in Stafford County.