the threat
The Threat
Each day, Americans consume approximately 20 million barrels of oil-nearly one-fourth of the world total. In 2008, the United States imported 60 percent of the crude oil and refined product it consumed at a cost of more than $350 billion-41 percent of the total U.S. trade deficit.
The transportation sector accounts for nearly 70 percent of the total oil consumed by the U.S. Oil fuels 96 percent of U.S. transportation needs with no readily available substitutes. In other words, our transportation sector, and therefore our entire economy, is dependent on oil, much of which is being imported from unstable or even hostile regimes.
The volatility of oil prices affects every American. In 2008, when oil prices rose to $140 a barrel, the average American family faced increases in annual household energy costs of $1,600. This burden, multiplied across millions of households, was a major contributor to the ensuing economic slowdown. Our continued dependence today threatens economic growth, weakens the dollar, and transfers untold billions of American dollars overseas with every passing year.
The threat to our national security is even more urgent. Oil dependence constrains and distorts U.S. foreign policy. Whether the U.S. military is policing the waters of the Gulf of Guinea or ensuring safe passage for tankers in the Strait of Hormuz, America's men and women in uniform are on the front lines of a steadily intensifying global resource conflict that strains our military forces and ultimately weakens national security.
These dangers are real, and they are growing. Yet for too long, too many have ignored the threat. Policymakers, industry, and special interest groups all have reason to protect their own parochial or political interests. Some find it easier to do nothing; some truly believe that a technological `silver bullet' will be found in the nick of time.
Whatever their reasons, one thing we know is that they are wrong: we cannot wait. Our dependence on oil threatens our prosperity and our safety. We cannot leave to our children and grandchildren a nation that is clouded by such a threat. The time for action is now.
