U.S. Must Reduce Its Dependence on Oil

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The sharp leap in the price of oil should be a wakeup call, warning Americans that dependence on imported oil and the politics of OPEC is a failed policy.

The OPEC cartel and not the free market sets the price of oil. Thirty-dollar-per-barrel oil and higher appears here to stay, as the demand for oil in the United States and other countries continues to rise faster than OPEC-controlled production.

The oil industry once had a slogan, “A nation that runs on oil can’t afford to run short.” True enough – it is time to move on from the “age of oil” and into the 21st century.

We now import more than half of our oil. U.S. oil production has steadily declined since 1970, while our demand has continued to increase. Our remaining oil reserves are increasingly located in what’s left of “America the Beautiful,” such as offshore California and the Alaska National Wildlife Refuge. We simply cannot produce enough oil to become self-sufficient. However, the problem is larger than declining U.S. oil production.

We are growing more and more dependent on countries such as Iran and Iraq that have large reserves of oil, countries that pose real problems for the U.S. through their support of terrorism and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. This growing oil dependency on nations that are not allies of the U.S. is creating a clear threat to our ability to conduct foreign policy with a free hand. We all remember how American lives were put at great risk in the Gulf War to protect our oil lifeline in Kuwait. Next time, the situation could be much worse.

The problem is subtle yet very significant. The mere possibility of an oil shock causes any president to pull his punches, so to speak, with nations that are large suppliers of oil.

We should worry more about the serious constraints on foreign policy and national security that are created by our dependency on foreign oil than about the price at the pump. If the U.S. does not curb its demand for foreign oil, we run the risk of becoming hostages to the countries that supply it – countries with different national interests than ours.

Transportation accounts for 65 percent of all oil consumption in the United States. The risk of an oil shock to the finances of long-distance drivers and oil-dependent industries poses another real danger, and just as bad is the lung-damage being caused by the pollution from burning gasoline and diesel fuel.

The only way to address these threats is to reduce our tremendous consumption of oil.

We can point fingers for this dependency on the gas-guzzling behavior of consumers who prefer enormous sport utility vehicles to the high-mileage cars first offered following the last oil crisis. However, consumers are greatly influenced by advertising, and while Detroit advertises the SUVs, it has done little to promote today’s new technology that offers 50- to 75-mpg cars and electric, hybrid, and natural gas-powered cars. Sadly, the laws that could require or subsidize alternative-fuel vehicles, better mileage for cars and slower speeds on our highways are not on the books. All we have are Detroit’s marketing schemes that scream “bigger is better.”

The technology is available to begin a mass movement away from gasoline and diesel to cleaner-burning domestic fuels for our cars and trucks. What is missing is the leadership and will power to make it happen.

Clean and renewable energy options are available. Now we confront the true test of leadership – will our elected officials rail against OPEC and Big Oil in a sound bite designed for the evening news and voter approval? Or will they demonstrate the type of leadership we need to make a transition from the politics of pollution and dependence to a transportation and energy economy that offers choice and provides clean-air benefits for the health of all Californians?

The time is right for the development of an electric and alternative transportation industry that will give California the ability to withstand the economic impacts of high oil prices.

The MTA recently rose to this leadership test when its board voted 10-0 to buy more natural gas-powered buses and resisted efforts to burden the city with more diesel buses.

At the state level, California has an opportunity to help turn the tide by holding steady to the zero-emission standards set a decade ago by a brave California Air Resources Board appointed by Gov. Deukmejian. I urge Gov. Davis to decide in favor of the long-term public interest and not Detroit and Big Oil.

Now, at the national level, we need leadership that offers Americans transportation choices and the opportunity to begin building a non-oil-based economy. The time is right and our national test is at hand. I believe if our leadership fails to act at this moment, we will miss a critical opportunity to provide consumer choice, and perhaps the American people will pay an even greater cost than $2 a gallon for gasoline – we may sell our security to the Middle East tomorrow to drive our SUVs today.

S. David Freeman is general manager of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power and served as energy advisor to President Jimmy Carter.

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