The United States imported 4 million barrels of oil a day—or 1. Venezuela is one of the top five oil exporters to the United States, and we imported million barrels of oil from them in As a major contributor to the global demand for oil the United States is paying to finance and sustain unfriendly regimes.
Further, the regimes and elites that economically benefit from rich energy resources rarely share oil revenues with their people, which worsens economic disparity in the countries and at times creates resource-driven tension and crises. The State Department cites oil-related violence in particular as a danger in Nigeria , where more than 54 national oil workers or businesspeople have been kidnapped at oil-related facilities and other infrastructure since January Attacks by insurgents on the U.
Our oil dependence will also be increasingly harder and more dangerous to satisfy. Burning oil is one of the largest sources of greenhouse gas emissions and therefore a major driver of climate change, which if left unchecked could have very serious security global implications. Recent studies found that the gravest consequences of climate change could threaten to destabilize governments, intensify terrorist actions, and displace hundreds of millions of people due to increasingly frequent and severe natural disasters, higher incidences of diseases such as malaria, rising sea levels, and food and water shortages.
The U. Global warming-induced natural disasters will create emergencies that demand military aid, such as Hurricane Katrina at home and the Indian Ocean tsunami abroad.
Developed countries will be responsible for aid efforts as well as responding to crises from climate-induced mass migration. Military and intelligence experts alike recognize that global warming poses serious environmental, social, political, and military risks that we must address in the interest of our own defense. The Pentagon is including climate change as a security threat in its Quadrennial Defense Review, a congressionally mandated report that updates Pentagon priorities every four years.
The State Department will also incorporate climate change as a national security threat in its Quadrennial Diplomacy and Development Review.
And in September the CIA created the Center on Climate Change and National Security to provide guidance to policymakers surrounding the national security impact of global warming. Instead of focusing solely on drilling for more oil, the U. Greater efforts to improve vehicle efficiency through corporate average fuel economy standards CAFE , congestion charges, or fuel taxes can contribute to reducing oil consumption.
To that end, investments in alternative sources of fuel — biofuels, natural gas, electric vehicles — can act as a hedge against oil price volatility. Throughout , the U. Due to budget caps and sequestration, energy research funding will drop substantially over the next few years.
Oil dependency is a long-term threat. The rising cost of oil dependence affects all aspects of American society and threatens national security. If the U. Only then can we say we have actually achieved energy security. They know that climate change is real and is a threat […]. Posted by Patrick C. Costello Oct 27, Read More. Bases in the Middle East. Sanctions on Nord Stream 2?
Free markets are better. New Horizons Humanitarian Exercise in Guyana. Considerations for the Nuclear Posture Review. As a result of these changes, in , net petroleum imports had fallen by one-third since to the lowest level in 20 years. And imports are continuing to fall this year as well. We will shortly be at the point where domestic crude oil production exceeds imports on a sustained basis for the first time since the early s.
The increased domestic supply combined with increased oil efficiency of the economy reduces vulnerability to global supply disruptions and price shocks, enhancing our national security.
But among its greatest effects are economic. Every barrel of oil or cubic foot of gas that we produce at home instead of importing from abroad means:. You are here Home Blog.
Twitter Facebook Email. There are three basic elements to achieving this goal: Increasing domestic production of oil. Crude oil production has grown each year the President has been in office to its highest level in 17 years in see chart above. In fact, over the past four years, domestic oil supply growth has accounted for over one-third of global oil production growth.
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