U.S. energy policy in wrong direction

The energy policy in the United States is moving in the wrong direction and may risk making energy more scarce and expensive, warned John S. Watson, chairman and CEO of Chevron corporation on Wednesday. "Our energy policy is rife with contradictions," said the head of the second largest U.S. oil company at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, a Washington-based think tank. He said the Obama administration's energy policy "would reduce competitiveness of U.S. oil companies" and "diminish" their ability to invest. His comments stated at a time when the Obama administration is trying to increase tax on oil companies and other deep-pocket industries to help improve the country's fiscal health and fund the president's job plan. But Watson argued the U.S. government's plan to raise more tax on oil companies and tighten regulation would hurt the country's effort to promote growth and create jobs. He said affordable energy should be the top priority of the U.S. energy policy. "We need a fundamental reorientation of energy policy that puts economic objectives and economic security at its core," Watson said. He also criticized that Obama's emphasis on promoting renewable energy is unrealistic. "Getting to commercial scale remains a fundamental hurdle for most renewable energy," he said, adding that fossil fuels are still not enough. The oil chief suggested that the government need to pay more attention to energy efficiency. "Energy efficiency is, effectively, the cheapest source of energy we have," Watson said.