Global Realities

March 7, 2011 |

By Biofuels Digest columnist and Growth Energy co-chairman General Wesley K. Clark (Ret.)

Note from the editor: We are delighted to have General Clark join our roster of distinguished Digest monthly columnists, bringing his unique experience in national and global security to the discussion on renewable energy.

While I was teaching economics at West Point in the early 1970’s, I and many others saw the dangers for our foreign and national security of our growing dependence on imported oil. In a detailed study of the implications of this energy crisis, I warned that we could expect to deploy U.S. military forces overseas in order to maintain access to that foreign oil—a pretty shocking observation considering we were still engaged in South East Asia.

Since then, every Administration has warned of America’s addiction to foreign oil but none has dealt successfully with it.

Today we are paying the price

And today we are paying the price. We have seen our military presence in the Middle East grow from an occasional ship, to a Rapid Deployment Task Force, to a 500,000 man force in the Gulf, to permanent bases for our naval, air and land forces. For the last 20 years we have been in almost continual combat operations in the Middle East, up to the most recent movements toward establishing a “no fly” zone over Libya. The cost has been more than 5,000 American lives and several trillion dollars.

For example, a peer-reviewed study published by journal Energy Policy last year calculated that taxpayers have paid more than $7.3 trillion over the last 30 years for our military to defend access to Middle Eastern oil. That’s a staggering $225 billion annually.

In addition, this dependency on foreign oil costs our national economy—just paying for the oil—more than $300 billion annually – or $1,000 a year for every man, woman and child in the United States. That amounts to about 60 percent of the total U.S. trade deficit, and equivalent to half of our national defense budget. And, adding insult to injury, according to Navy Secretary Ray Mabus, every $10 increase in the cost of a barrel of oil adds more than $300 million to what the Navy pays annually for fuel. This is above and beyond paying for troops to secure oil.

The costs are rising

And those costs are rising. As unrest spreads across North Africa and the Middle East, the market is responding by pushing up oil prices to highs we have not seen in nearly three years – taking more money out of the pockets of every-day Americans and putting it into the coffers of foreign, unfriendly nations. It could run well over $400 billion in 2011.

As long as petroleum is imported from unstable, hostile regimes there will be major risks to our national and economic security.  When will American taxpayers finally say, enough?

To break the hold

To break the hold that foreign oil has over our country, we need to change our policies, and embrace the biofuels we have the capacity to produce here in the United States. Ethanol – made here in America – is the only commercially viable alternative to foreign oil. It is not a someday fuel; it is here today.

Ethanol is 59 percent cleaner than oil and, every gallon of cleaner-burning domestic ethanol means less reliance on foreign oil – making our nation stronger, more economically secure and environmentally friendlier for our children and grandchildren. Ethanol is also more energy efficient to produce than gasoline and every day, producers are developing new technologies to increase the amount of fuel derived from varying feedstocks.

With ethanol we have the opportunity to break our dependence on foreign oil. But we must act now to make the change. We must work with the current Administration to enact policies that will ensure access to clean, domestically-produced alternatives like ethanol. This includes installing blender pumps at every retail station in America and producing more flex-fuel capable vehicles in the United States.

With access to the market we can provide consumers with the choice between foreign oil and domestic ethanol. If we give Americans that choice, they will choose the fuel that has been proven to be better for our economy, our environment and our national security. With ethanol, we can break the hold that the Middle East has over our country.

Category: Fuels

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