In an open letter to Congress and the next president, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and a bipartisan group of energy officials and industry leaders this week called for a strategic long-term energy policy for the United States.

The chamber’s Institute for 21st Century Energy unveiled 13 “fundamental pillars” that it said would build the foundation for a new policy.

“We are long overdue for energy solutions that will keep our nation on track and our economy strong,” said Chamber CEO Tom Donohue. “We are building the ideas and the support to help our elected officials move forward in a constructive way.”

A group of 27 current and former government officials and industry leaders joined the chamber to urge the country’s future political leadership to expand the U.S. supply of affordable fuel and power from traditional and alternative sources, bolster energy efficiency and expand and modernize energy infrastructure. The group includes former secretaries of energy, state, defense, commerce and treasury; former members of congress and national security experts.

“With a challenge as great and urgent as securing our energy future, America’s leaders must come together in support of a sensible long-term approach that promotes economic growth at home and strengthens our national security,” said retired U.S. Marine Corps Gen. James L. Jones, who is CEO of the chamber’s energy institute. “How we solve our energy challenges will define who we are as a nation in the 21st century.”

The 13 energy principles include accelerating energy efficiency across all sectors; modernizing and expanding energy infrastructure; transforming the transportation sector including greater use of alternative and renewable fuels; and expanding the use of nuclear power, coal, and renewable energy as well as new domestic exploration and production of oil and natural gas.

The chamber group advocates reducing the environment impact of energy use and increasing investments in climate change research, and it calls for addressing critical shortages in scientists and engineers through education and training programs, incentives and visa policies.

“Above all…this is America’s opportunity to demonstrate leadership in innovation and solve what is not solely an American challenge but a global one,” the chamber noted.

Texas oilman T. Boone Pickens, who earlier this month unveiled “the Pickens Plan” to reduce U.S. dependence on foreign oil (see Daily GPI, July 11), called the chamber’s announcement “meaningless” and said it didn’t “go nearly far enough in addressing the single biggest problem facing America today: reducing our dangerous dependence on foreign oil.

“I find it most unusual that this group chose to ignore the only domestic fuel available immediately to address our $700 billion problem of oil imports — which is moving natural gas into our transportation system,” he said. “This group is focusing on fuels that will be decades in development and our foreign oil exposure will crush our economy and security in a few short years.”

To view the chamber’s plan and its 13-point platform, visit www.energyxxi.org.

©Copyright 2008Intelligence Press Inc. All rights reserved. The preceding news reportmay not be republished or redistributed, in whole or in part, in anyform, without prior written consent of Intelligence Press, Inc.