Energy Security is National Security

Wednesday, March 1, 2006

"Our enemies are fully aware that they can use oil as a weapon against America. And if we don't take this threat as seriously as the bombs they build or the guns they buy, we will be fighting the War on Terror for a long long time."

Podcast Transcript:

Hello, this is Senator Barack Obama, and today is Wednesday, March 1, 2006. I've got a couple of quotes for you, I want to see you if you can identify them. Quote number one: ". . . Oil is the umbilical cord and lifeline of the crusader community. . . ." Quote number two: ". . . focus your operations on oil, especially in Iraq and the Gulf area, since this will cause them to die off on their own. . . ." The first quote, the words of Al-Qaeda. The second quote, the words of Osama Bin-Laden. More than anything else, these comments represent a realization of the American weakness that the rest of the world understands and knows about. It's a realization that for all of our military might, our economic dominance, the Achilles heel of this country is the oil that we cannot live without. Oil single-handedly fuels 96 percent of our transportation needs. We saw during Hurricane Katrina this kind of dependency means that the loss of even a small amount of oil and refinery capacity for just a few days causes tremendous economic pain and soaring prices. A serious embargo or a permanent loss of our oil supply would mean untold economic disaster.

Now, up until recently, the President's basic view has been that we can drill our way out of this problem. It's not surprising, given the fact that he was in the oil business, he represents an oil and gas state, at least he did while he was governor. Here's the problem: the United States only possesses 3 percent of the world's oil reserves. We could start drilling in Alaska today, and at its peak, which would be about a decade from now, the oil fields in Alaska that have been the primary energy strategy of this Adminsitration, would give us enough oil to take care of our transportation needs for about a month. That's right, a month. Every single hour we spend 18 million dollars on foreign oil. It doesn't matter if these countries are budding democracies, despotic regimes, havens for madrassas that are planting the seeds of terror in young minds; they get our money because we need their oil.

Let's take a look at what is happening right now. In Iran, you've got an Islamic, fundamentalist government that is saying Israel should be wiped of the map, and that the Holocaust did not happen. We are sending them billions of dollars in exchange for their oil, they, in turn, are using that money to help finance nuclear programs. In Nigeria, we've got militant rebels who have been attacking the country's oil pipelines in recent weeks, and that's meant soaring prices at the pump. They are our fifth largest source of oil imports, not a country that has been known for its stability, or its human rights record. Right now, Sudan, because of its oil capacity, is able to fend off the kinds of sanctions that should be applied to them for the tragic activities that are taking place in Darfur. The point is that our enemies are fully aware that they can use oil as a weapon against America. And if we don't take this threat as seriously as the bombs that those enemies build, or the guns that they buy, we're going to be fighting this war on terror for a long, long time.

Now, the good news is, is that in the State of the Union address, the President recognized that we've got to break our addiction to oil. The bad news is that so far, at least, his energy policy is just not serious. Take a look at the record. President Bush's funding for renewable fuels is at the same level it was the day he took office. He refuses to call for even a modest increase in fuel efficiency standards for cars and trucks. His latest budget funds less than half of the energy bill that he himself signed into law, leaving hundreds of million dollars in under funded energy proposals. And while he can't seem to find the funding for any of these alternative fuel proposals, he has no problem allowing the oil companies to stiff tax payers 7 billion dollars in royalties that they owe us for drilling on public lands. These are the same oil companies that are currently enjoying the highest profits on records. That's not a serious energy policy. Let me suggest what could be a serious energy policy. Brazil, in the span of 3 years has gone from 3 percent of its cars being flexible fuel vehicles that can use ethanol and other bio-fuels, to 71 percent of the cars on the road being flexible fuel vehicles that can use ethanol and other bio-diesel fuels in their cars. As a consequence, Brazil, a nation that once relied on foreign countries to import 80 percent of its crude oil, will now be entirely self-sufficient in a few years, thanks to the investment that it's made in bio-fuels. Countries like Japan are creating jobs and slowing oil consumption by churning out and buying millions of fuel-efficient cars. China now has higher fuel-efficiency standards than we do.

So why can't we do this? Why can't we make energy security one of the great American projects of the 21st century? I think we can; here are a couple of elements to it. Number one: let's go to the auto-makers, and say, 'here's the deal, in exchange for you guys increasing your fuel efficiency standards, and increasing your fleet of flexible-fuel vehicles in the way that Japan has done, what we're going to do, is we're going to give you some relief on those high health care costs that are making you uncompetitive.'

Number two: let's make sure that US fleets, meaning cars that the US government buys, we buy thousands of cars for various agencies and departments, lets make sure that all those are fuel-efficient, that they're hybrids, that they can take ethanol, or other bio-fuels that would be a lot more efficient. Number three: let's build on the success that we already have with something called E-85, an 85 percent ethanol, 15 percent gasoline blend, let's build on that success, by making sure that once you have a flexible-fuel vehicle, you can actually fill it up with E-85 at a regular gas station. It doesn't need a lot of fancy technology; it costs a relatively small amount for gas stations to install them. Let's expand the tax credit that we already passed last year, a bill that I sponsored, to make sure that every gas station in America has an E-85 pump, so you can fill up your tank, save money, help the environment, and help wean ourselves off foreign oil.

Bottom line is this, this is not a problem that is technical, it is a problem of political will. If we are serious about our environment, if we're serious about our economy, and if we are serious about our national security, we are going to make this the new Manhattan Project; we're going to make this the new priority for the 21st century. I'm willing to join with Republicans and Democrats to make this happen, and I think all of this need to think about how we can prompt the White House to lead on this because time is running short.

It's great to talk to you guys, I look forward to talking to you again next week, bye bye.