Energy Security: A Call to Action
(11/08/01)(Rev. 11/27/01)

As the nation, individuals, and the Jewish community consider various practical actions we can take to increase our security and preserve our freedom, reducing our use of oil should be among our top priorities. COEJL advocates an national energy policy that will both protect the environment and public health and lead to greater energy independence. Both of these goals can be accomplished through energy conservation and the development of non-fossil fuel based energy sources and technologies - many of which are already at hand. The time for action is now. Congress must develop and adopt a comprehensive and environmentally responsible approach to increasing American energy security by reducing our reliance on oil. And each of us must take responsibility for doing what we can to reduce our consumption of oil.

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As the nation, individuals, and the Jewish community consider various practical actions we can take to increase our security and preserve our freedom, reducing our use of oil should be among our top priorities.

Our dependence on oil to fuel our vehicles and drive our economy is at the heart of the conflict we now face in the Middle East and Central Asia. We import more than half of the oil we use, and almost half of our imports come from OPEC member nations. It is primarily this dependence upon oil that has shaped American policy toward the Middle East. The other major consideration of American policy in the region is our alliance with and support of the State of Israel, the only democracy in the region. Israel and the world Jewish community have a strong interest in assuring that the values and alliances of the United States will not be compromised by its need for oil. The only way to assure complete U.S. freedom of action in the Middle East and effective support of Israel is to reduce U.S. reliance on oil.

Now, as we go to war against terrorism, our options are limited by our need to keep energy flowing from the Persian Gulf to fuel American vehicles and the vehicles of our major trading partners. A major factor in the U.S. interest in maintaining and developing alliances with Israel’s enemies, such as Saudi Arabia and Iran, is U.S. dependence on oil from the Persian Gulf.

This circumstance is not new. Recognizing the danger posed to Israel by U.S. reliance on oil from the Middle East, the Jewish community has been advocating decreased American dependence on oil for over 25 years.

There are two primary methods for reducing our reliance on imported oil - increasing domestic supply and reducing demand for oil. Because the U.S. has only 3% of the world's proven oil reserves, it is impossible for the U.S. to significantly reduce our dependence on foreign oil through increasing domestic supply. Our only option is to focus efforts on reducing our demand for oil.

In recent years, the Coalition on the Environment and Jewish Life (COEJL) and others in the Jewish community have focused attention on the need to develop a comprehensive national energy policy that would protect the environment and public health and lead to greater energy independence. Both of these goals can be accomplished through energy conservation and the development of non-fossil fuel based energy sources and technologies - many of which are already at hand.

Eliminating American dependence upon oil is a necessary and urgent strategy in the War on Terrorism. Energy conservation and the development of new fuels and technologies must now rise to the highest level of priority for the Congress, Administration, and American people.

In addition to oil dependence, U.S. energy policy has other important foreign policy and security implications. The more diverse and decentralized our sources of electricity are, the harder they are to sabotage. Thus, wind and solar sources that are not dependent upon fuel supply and can be located across the nation are more favorable than large power plants, particularly nuclear power plants, which are vulnerable to sabotage. As petroleum is used in only minute amounts to generate electricity in the U.S., nuclear energy cannot increase U.S. energy independence. Furthermore, not only does nuclear waste create an ongoing environmental danger to the country, nuclear plants are potential targets for terrorists, and the transport and storage of nuclear waste creates numerous opportunities for attacks.

The time for action is now. Congress must develop and adopt a comprehensive and environmentally responsible approach to increasing American energy security by reducing our reliance on oil. And each of us must take responsibility for doing what we can to reduce our consumption of oil.

Drilling for oil and/or natural gas in environmentally sensitive lands, such as the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR), only delays the day when we must make a transition away from oil. We cannot bring oil from the Arctic Refuge to market quickly enough to address current circumstances. Additionally, the oil it would eventually produce is a small fraction of the amount of oil that can be saved by increasing fuel economy standards or even requiring replacement tires to be as fuel efficient as original equipment. Raising fuel economy standards 45 percent by 2013 would save about 55 billion barrels of oil by 2030 – or more than 5 times the highest estimate of total economically recoverable oil in the Arctic Refuge . Drilling in ANWR would destroy a unique and fragile ecosystem, and would endanger the culture of the G’wichin people, who depend upon caribou – whose calving grounds are in the Arctic Refuge – for their cultural life.

The legislative battle over drilling in the Arctic Refuge has become a huge distraction to the Congress. By continuing to focus debate on drilling in there - which is opposed by many in both parties - as a prime solution to US oil dependence, the powerful oil industry and their Congressional allies are preventing progress in taking the urgent steps that could actually improve our energy security quickly, cheaply, and cleanly.

COEJL calls on the Congress and Administration to expeditiously develop and adopt an environmentally sustainable comprehensive energy security plan to move the U.S. toward minimum reliance on oil. The federal government should utilize a broad range of policy approaches to accomplish this goal, including standards, incentives for voluntary action, harnessing market forces, and research and development. A US energy security plan should include:

• a significant increase in vehicle fuel economy standards for all vehicles over the shortest realistic time, followed by steady continued increases in such standards
• an expansion of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to two billion barrels
• tax incentives for consumers to purchase hybrid and alternative fuel vehicles
• increasing funding for inter-city rail and metropolitan mass transit
• requirements for fuel efficient replacement tires for all vehicles
• increased incentives for states to enforce speed limits
• promotion and support of local "smart-growth" initiatives to curb urban sprawl
• aggressive support for the development and production of alternative fuel vehicles, including hybrid-electric and fuel cell vehicles
• a driver education campaign to promote energy conservation measures, such as keeping tires fully inflated, driving the speed limit, carpooling, and turning off engines when idling
• aggressive support for the development and incentives for the use of non-nuclear, clean, and decentralized sources of electricity, including wind, solar, fuel cells, bio-fuels, and geothermal
• steadily increasing efficiency standards for all appliances, including air conditioners

A national energy security plan should not include opening up the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge or other environmentally sensitive areas to oil or gas exploration or drilling. Drilling in the Refuge will not provide oil for at least seven years, and even then would provide a tiny fraction of the oil that could be saved through conservation.

COEJL calls on the automobile industry to bring super-efficient and alternative fuel vehicles to market as quickly as possible, and actively promote such vehicles for purchase by the American public. Given our national security needs, the automobile and petroleum industries should work with Congress to develop policies that will lead to a rapid and successful transition to more fuel efficient vehicles.

COEJL also urges the Administration to take an active and collaborative approach to reducing the dependence of Europe, Japan, and eventually all developed economies on oil. In our globalized economy, the dependence of any large economy on foreign oil sources is an economic vulnerability for the U.S. Such an effort would also complement the commitment and interest of these countries in a global solution to global warming by leading to a substantial reduction in the greenhouse gas emissions of the U.S. and our allies.



ENERGY CONSERVATION:
An Opportunity for Every Citizen to Help Win the War on Terrorism

Every person and institution can take actions that will help reduce our dependence on oil, including:

• taking and promoting mass transit and carpooling
• keeping the tires of all vehicles fully inflated
• driving the speed limit
• buying the most fuel efficient vehicles that meet their needs
• using vegetable oil-based rather than petroleum-based products, such as liquid detergents

In addition, individuals, homes, and businesses can conserve electricity and natural gas. Though we do not import electricity or natural gas from other countries, we burn far more coal and natural gas than we need to - leading to air pollution, respiratory illness, and global climate change. The following are a few simple and effective actions which both save energy and save money (though an initial investment might be required):

• replace conventional light bulbs with compact fluorescent bulbs
• use EnergyStar certified appliances which meet strict EPA criteria for energy efficiency
• adjust the thermostat to make it a few degrees warmer in the summer and few degrees cooler in the winter. You won't notice much of a difference, but you will be saving a lot of energy
• fully insulate homes and buildings - including insulation for hot water heaters
• and of course, turn out the lights when you leave a room

The Jewish vision of peace among nations and harmony in creation is a unitary vision. Both are essential to shalom, to peace and wholeness for humankind and all creation. Reliance on oil has brought war, and it threatens to bring ecological desolation caused by global climate change - which itself will likely bring more instability and war.

It is our duty, as a nation, as a Jewish community, and as individuals, to take the actions we can to reduce our dependence on oil now - and to set our sights on creating a society and an economy run by clean, secure, and renewable sources of energy powering the highly efficient vehicles and appliances we know are within our capacity to develop. Not to do so would be an unforgivable abdication of our individual and collective responsibility to seek peace, pursue justice, provide for future generations, and tend the Earth of which we are a part.

In addition to the obvious value of helping to prevent future war and terrorism, there are a number of core Jewish values which should lead us to adopt an ethic of conservation - in this case energy conservation. These values were articulated in an "Open Letter to the President, Congress, and American People on Energy Conservation and God's Creation" signed by the heads of the Conservative, Orthodox, Reconstructionist, Reform, and Renewal congregational bodies, rabbinical associations, and seminaries - along with over 600 rabbis across the United States. Organized as an interfaith letter, it was also signed by heads of 27 Orthodox, Protestant, and historic Black Christian denominations.

U.S. dependence upon Middle Eastern nations for oil has been recognized as a problem since the first oil shock in 1974, caused by the Arab oil embargo organized in response to the 1973 "Yom Kippur War" between Israel and her Arab neighbors. In 1973, 48% of America's imported oil came from OPEC nations. Since the 1970's, the central strategy in the effort to reduce American reliance on Middle Eastern oil has been vehicle fuel economy standards (knows as CAFE - Corporate Average Fuel Economy standards). In 1975, Congress mandated that cars and light trucks increase their fuel economy to 18 miles per gallon (mpg) for automobile model year 1978. By model year 1985, Congress had increased the standards to 27.5 mpg. Since 1975, domestic new car fuel economy has roughly doubled . Between 1976 and 1989, roughly 70% of the improvement in fuel economy was the result of technical innovation such as weight reduction, improvements in transmissions and aerodynamics, wider use of front-wheel drive, and use of fuel-injection . Between 1979 and 1985, total oil imports fell by 51 percent and imports from the Persian Gulf fell by 88 percent. The tens of billions of dollars saved on fuel as a result of CAFE standards are spread throughout the economy.

Unfortunately, when oil prices fell dramatically in 1986, Congress abandoned efforts to further reduce fuel economy standards. Today, our fleet of vehicles has the lowest average fuel economy since 1980. If we had continued to conserve oil at the same rate we did from 1976 to 1985, we would have needed no Persian Gulf oil after 1985. Yet today, we are importing more oil than ever from the Persian Gulf.

There continue to be enormous untapped opportunities for reducing U.S. reliance on oil. With less than 5% of the world’s population, we in the U.S. use almost 25% of the world’s energy resources. Though some of our disproportionate use is a consequence of our high economic output, the amount of energy we use to generate a dollar in our economy is substantially more than that used by our closest competitors: 34% more energy than Great Britain, 42% more than France and Germany, and 48% more than Japan. Greater fuel and energy efficiency would bring much benefit to businesses and the economy in general. Focusing America's engineering and manufacturing prowess on raising fuel economy through new technologies will provide jobs and strengthen the economy.

Our dependence upon oil from Middle Eastern nations reduces the options of the U.S. government to address threats from the region. And anticipated reliance upon oil from the Caspian Sea region will increasingly define our relationship with Central Asian republics. Recent reports indicate that even some governments of oil producing nations with whom we have close relations, such as Saudi Arabia, have been directly supporting or allowing their nationals to support the Taliban and Al Qaeda.

As many of our allies and trading partners are even more dependent upon Middle Eastern oil than is the U.S., decreasing the oil dependence of the European and Japanese economies - and eventually all developed nation economies -is equally important. In a globalized economy, a significant disruption of energy supply to any large national economy will affect all other participants in the global economy. Furthermore, because oil is traded on international commodity markets, the U.S. cannot insulate itself from price shocks even if the vast majority of our oil is produced at home. The greater our dependence on oil from any source, the greater our economic vulnerability to global supply disruptions and price shocks.

By modeling effective approaches to non-fossil fuel based energy independence for other nations and developing technologies that can be used by them, the U.S. reduces world dependence on Middle Eastern oil.

Reducing reliance on oil also will help the United States to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, an issue of great concern to Great Britain and other close allies in the War on Terrorism. We now are aware more than ever of the need for coordinated global solutions to global challenges. The active and constructive engagement of the U.S. - the world's leading emitter of greenhouse gas pollution- in international efforts to address global warming is needed now.

Before the events of September 11th, the Administration released an energy plan with a heavy emphasis on increasing domestic production. The House passed an energy bill (HR.4) in August 2001 that also emphasizes domestic production - providing almost $30 billion in subsidies to oil and coal companies. In addition, it would open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) to drilling. Neither the Administration's plan nor the House bill would meaningfully decrease U.S. dependence on foreign oil.

In the days since September 11th, there has been increasingly broad recognition of the connections between our dependence on oil and our national security. Now is the time to develop a policy which will dramatically reduce our dependence on oil and therefore enable the U.S. to change its relations with Middle Eastern nations to improve national security.



OTHER BENEFITS OF REDUCING RELIANCE ON OIL

There are many benefits to reducing our use of oil in addition to increased security:

• Reduce air pollution and save lives: Emissions from vehicles are a major source of air pollution. Smog, soot, and toxic chemicals from burning oil cause and exacerbate respiratory illnesses which harm and kill tens of thousands of Americans each year.
  
  
• Save consumers money: More fuel efficient vehicles save consumers money. Though some efficiency technologies, such as hybrid-electric motors, may increase the price of a vehicle, fuel savings will more than offset the increased costs over the life of the vehicle, sometimes by substantial margins, even while saving energy.
  
  
• Address global climate change: Burning oil is a leading source of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions which are causing global climate change - which has already begun to affect ecosystems around the world and threatens to cause great harm to people, particularly poor people, if left unchecked.
  
  
• Protect fragile habitats and unique ecosystems: Dependence on oil increases pressure to drill in environmentally sensitive areas that serve as critical habitat to endangered species and are unique ecological areas - such as the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, roadless areas in National Forests, and shorelines.

Statement of the COEJL Board of Trustees
November 5, 2001

Eliminating American dependence upon Middle Eastern oil is a necessary and urgent strategy in the War on Terrorism. Furthermore, energy conservation is vital to the fulfillment of our moral obligations to protect the environment and public health and to provide for future generations.

There are two ways to reduce oil dependence: increase domestic supply, and decrease demand. Because of very limited domestic reserves - the U.S. has only 3% of proven world oil reserves - our only effective option is to reduce demand and therefore dependence on oil from all sources.

Therefore, energy conservation and the development of new fuels and technologies must now rise to the highest level of priority for the U.S. Congress and Administration and the American people. Both the government and every citizen can and should take action to help conserve energy and reduce our reliance on oil.

Energy policy has far-reaching impacts. Therefore, it must be developed through a deliberative process and not as a rushed reaction to the events of September 11. We call on Congress to adopt an energy security plan with the following core elements:

• a significant increase in vehicle fuel economy standards for all vehicles
• an expansion of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to two billion barrels
• increasing funding for inter-city rail and metropolitan mass transit
• aggressive support for the development and production of alternative fuel vehicles, including hybrid-electric and fuel cell vehicles
• aggressive support for the development and incentives for the use of non-nuclear, clean, and decentralized sources of electricity

A plan should not include opening up the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge or other environmentally sensitive areas to oil or gas exploration or drilling. Such drilling will not provide oil for at least seven years, and even then would provide a tiny fraction of the oil that could be saved through conservation.

Industry has a vital role to play as well. We call on the automobile industry to work to bring super-efficient and alternative fuel vehicles to market as quickly as possible, and actively promote such vehicles for purchase by the American public. Given our national security needs, the automobile and petroleum industries should work with Congress to develop policies that will lead to a rapid and successful transition to more fuel efficient vehicles.

Finally, we call on each and every person and institution to help by:

• taking and promoting mass transit and carpooling
• keeping the tires of all vehicles fully inflated
• driving the speed limit
• buying the most fuel efficient vehicles that meet their needs
• conserving electricity

Together, we the American people can wean ourselves of dependence on Middle Eastern oil - and dramatically reduce our use of oil in general - through practical actions by industry, individuals, and institutions. We call on the leadership of our nation to move thoughtfully and swiftly to develop and implement an effective and environmentally sustainable energy security policy.