Managing Energy Independence in the United States

Managing Energy Independence in the United States Americans are disgusted with the increasing cost of oil and they no longer want to financially support foreign countries that attack the United States. They are fed up because politicians have been claiming, for over thirty years, that energy independence is within reach, yet little progress has been made toward any real energy independence. Mortimer B. Zuckerman, editor-in-chief of U.S. News and World Report and the publisher and owner of the New York Daily News, wrote an editorial, Stop the Energy Insanity (2008), claiming that “special-interest-driven politics” is what is holding America back on any real policies toward energy independence (p.323). Zuckerman (2008) points to several solutions to begin the process of becoming energy independent such as, reducing consumption, offshore drilling, and investing in research and development. The Council on Foreign Relations put together an independent task force to report on the National Security Consequences of U.S. Oil Dependence. The Task Force noted in 2006 that the United States must “manage the consequences of unavoidable dependence on oil…and begin the transition to an economy that relies less on petroleum” (p.312). The Task Force feels that energy independence is unachievable, however, they do point to several solutions to manage oil consumption. While energy independence may not be entirely achievable in the near future, politicians should concentrate on managing the United States’ dependence on oil by limiting consumption from transportation, and exploiting the oil resources that are available in America. Energy independence can be managed in part by the reduction of fuel consumption used for transportation. The United States accounts for four percent of the world’s population; however, we consume 25 percent of oil worldwide (Zuckerman, p.323). While Europe demands Corporate Average Fuel Economy Standards (CAFÉ) of cars to be 44.5 miles per gallon (mpg);

Cited: Zuckerman, M. B. (2008). Stop the energy insanity. In L. Behrens & L. J. Rosen, Writing and reading across the curriculum (pp. 322-325). Boston: Pearson-Longman Independent Task Force (2006). National Security Consequences of U.S. Oil Dependence. In L. Behrens & L. J. Rosen, Writing and reading across the curriculum (pp. 311-315). Boston: Pearson-Longman