U.S. Getting Closer to Energy Independence
by Steve Everly (The Kansas City Star) …A multiprong effort that includes increased domestic oil and natural-gas production, energy efficiency, and more biofuels has already helped push petroleum imports down to 45 percent of the petroleum needed to meet U.S. demand, compared with 60 percent in 2005.
…Defining and measuring energy independence can be difficult. Typically it’s thought to mean being completely self-sufficient, but (Jay) Hakes (former head of the Energy Information Administration) said reducing imports to between 25 and 33 percent of demand would be enough to make the United States less beholden to Middle East supplies and would shield the country’s economy from the kind of oil shock that happened during the OPEC embargo in the 1970s. READ MORE and MORE (Star Tribune)
