On
September 11, 2001, we witnessed a catastrophic attack on our
country, one that changed our outlook of the world in many ways.
Americans realized for the first time that we did not live in a
country that could escape the terrorist attacks that take place
around the world.
We
were not, and are still not living in a place immune to the terror
some countries see on a daily basis. Despite the new realities we
have seen since that fateful day, I have confidence in our
government and know that since 9/11 many improvements have been
made, and continue to be made, to make our country more secure.
In
spite of these improvements, there is one area on which our country
has neglected to take a strong stand: energy security.
Many
have not realized the incredibly big impact that our oil dependency
has on the security of our country. The attack on 9/11 by Islamic
extremists should have been a wake-up call to the nation that our
vital security interests are threatened by our increasing
dependence on Middle East oil imports. I am sorry to say that our
nation still slumbers.
We
should see the danger that lies in buying up to a quarter of our
imported oil from Saudi Arabia and Iraq.
We
should see the dangers of paying billions of dollars to a man
committed to amassing weapons of mass destruction.
We
should see and understand that every time America buys a barrel of
rogue oil we are in part funding unseen radicals.
And
we should see that our national security is at risk, our foreign
policy is shackled, and our diplomatic credibility in the Middle
East undermined, so long as we buy from regimes that deny democracy
and freedom.
America should not allow these regimes to
maintain such a strong influence over our economy.
Our
nation currently relies on foreign oil for 55 percent of our energy
requirements, and this dependence is expected to rise to 65 percent
by 2020. Indeed, during the next 20 years, our energy demand is
expected to increase more than 50 percent. The United States uses
oil to supply about 40 percent of our energy needs. No one could
question the fact that energy is absolutely indispensable to
maintain our national security and our way of life.
America has become increasingly dependent
on petroleum from Saudi Arabia, Iran, and Iraq. With about 250
billion barrels, Saudi Arabia has more proven oil reserves than any
other country; that is, one-fourth of the world's oil reserves.
Iran and Iraq each control about 10
percent of the world's oil reserves, with large amounts of
unexplored resource. The expectation is that the Persian Gulf must
expand oil production by almost 80 percent during the next two
decades to supply the world market. That region has the natural
resources and technical capability to achieve that production, but
what will it cost us?
Our country is already too dependent upon
foreign oil imports from the Middle East and this dependence is
getting worse, not better.
Winston Churchill noted:
On no one quality, on no one process, on
no one country, on no one route, and on no one field must we be
dependent. Safety and certainty in oil lie in variety and variety
alone.
Diversity in supply and restraint in
demand are the twin paths out of the crisis we face. Supply
diversity can be achieved in two ways: by developing new
international sources and by increasing domestic production.
DEVELOPING INTERNATIONAL SOURCES
Internationally, our nation is ignoring
the opportunities that lie in the Caspian Basin and Russia. In the
Caspian Sea area, oil reserves of up to 33 billion barrels have
been found, a potential greater than U.S. reserves and double those
of the North Sea. Estimates are made of another 233 billion barrels
in Caspian reserves. These could add up to 25 percent of the
world's proven reserves. Russia may have even higher reserves.
Today, America buys virtually no oil from
either the Caspian states or Russia. Massive investments are
required to bring these resources on line, which means reforms will
be needed in the nations bordering the Caspian Sea and in Russia
itself. Private capital investment requires political stability and
the rule of law. Contracts must be honored, corruption must
disappear, and the regulatory regime must be favorable to attract
investors. The governments in the countries concerned must have the
political will to make the changes necessary to attract investment.
But American leaders can, and ought to, encourage reforms more
vigorously than we have.
INCREASING DOMESTIC PRODUCTION
Domestically, I believe it is important to
find out what oil and gas resources we have access to in our own
country.
Consider the contributions of my home
state of Montana. Fuel cell research is underway at our
universities. This will yield new ways to power our homes and cars.
New technologies can turn Montana's abundant agricultural crops
into alternative fuels.
Montana possesses the nation's largest
supply of clean coal. We possess vast reserves of petroleum and
natural gas.
If
Montana has so much potential, think about our potential as a
nation.
We
must know where our reserves are, and we should have access to
those resources to strengthen our own economy and energy
security.
Access to federal lands should be a major
goal of the domestic agenda. First on the list is opening the
Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR), which would be a major
improvement in energy position. This is not only an Alaska issue,
it's an energy security issue.
Additionally, we must not overlook the
great possibilities on federal land. There is a misconception that
federal resources are being rapidly developed without regard to the
land. The truth is that drilling activity continues to decline.
Today, there are 30 percent fewer active drilling rigs than there
were two years ago. The number two years ago was 80 percent less
than the drilling activity 20 years before. And currently, the
federal government is actively producing natural gas from only 5
percent of its mineral estate. It is estimated that 95 percent of
undiscovered oil and 40 percent of undiscovered gas is located
under the lands in the Inter-Mountain West.
Before 9/11, the U.S. Congress had the
luxury of passing environmental laws that locked up huge areas on
federal land and offshore. We could afford, some said, not to know
what was "out there." The prevailing fear was that if we found oil
or gas we might want to develop it. As it stands, less than 19
percent of the lower-48 Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) lands are
available for development. This policy has led to absurd results.
For example, our citizens in the Northeast are paying top dollar
for Canadian natural gas taken from waters just to their north,
while a moratorium exists on looking for the natural gas in similar
continental shelf structures on the U.S. east coast. The National
Academy of Sciences concluded that improved production technology
and safety training of personnel have significantly reduced both
blowout and operational spills on the OCS. The moratorium on OCS
leasing is thus based on outdated facts and policy. I believe the
environmental risks of transporting gas from the Middle East to our
country are greater than bringing our OCS gas by submerged pipeline
directly to shore.
It
also becomes quite clear that the economic and political benefits
of using our own OCS gas resources are huge, and we must work to
begin to take advantage of these possibilities.
CONCLUSION
Ladies and gentlemen, energy security is a
complicated topic and I fully realize that my brief comments today
only touch on a few aspects of the problem. I hope that you
understand my conviction that we can no longer continue with
business as usual on foreign oil imports. We must all realize the
dangers that lie in our current energy dependencies, and we must
work to make changes to create energy security for our country.
Since 9/11 we have come to live in a world
with new threats and new opportunities. We have come to live in a
world where a new reality has shown us that energy diversity is not
simply a good idea, but it is essential to our national
survival.
The Honorable Conrad Burns, a
Republican, represents Montana in the United States
Senate.