THE ENERGY OPPORTUNITY - The Power Surge: Energy, Opportunity, and the Battle for America's Future - page 205

Policymakers should also be careful to not get carried away in their
excitement about the benei ts that advances in American energy have
delivered. h e United States will still depend on global markets, stabil-
ity in oil-producing regions, and secure sea lanes. If the American navy
did not maintain security on the high seas, and if the U.S. Strategic
Petroleum Reserves weren't available to help buf er markets during dis-
ruptions, oil prices would be higher and more volatile, with far worse
consequences for the United States. h

ose basic tasks need continued

at ention.

m m m

h is strategy would embrace advances in old and new energy sources
alike to realize large economic, security, and environmental gains, by
focusing on big risks and opportunities, unleashing development across
the range of energy sources, and leveraging gains at home to make prog-
ress abroad. But a basic question remains. Strategy is forged through
political bat le, not set by dispassionate technocrats coldly weighing
costs and benei ts. Can a strategy that embraces such disparate devel-
opments ever work politically? Partisans on both sides of the bat le over
the future of American energy are ot en convinced that the only route
to victory for their side is through defeat for the other, a phenomenon
exacerbated by the time-tested tendency to use energy issues as proxies
for bigger ideological i ghts.
h is instinct is understandable but ultimately wrong. h e best hope
for big gains in old and new energy is actually through a political deal
that can be embraced by both sides.
It is easy to see why advocates of serious action to deal with cli-
mate change and curb U.S. oil consumption are skeptical. h ey have
struggled for years against fossil-fuel producers that not only lobby
for more support for oil and gas production but have also advocated
against constraints on consumption or support for alternatives. For
example, the American Petroleum Institute (API), which speaks for
oil and gas producers, has long opposed strengthening fuel economy
standards for cars and trucks. h e U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which
has consistently called for expanded access to areas for of shore