America’s Energy Security Options

The Peterson Institute released a new Policy Brief, America’s Energy Security Options, by Trevor Houser and Shashank Mohan, at a meeting held June 30, 2011. Rising oil prices and instability in the Middle East have forced energy security back into the forefront of American political debate. In recent months the Obama Administration and Congressional leaders have put forward a range of proposed remedies, from expanded domestic oil production to accelerated deployment of natural gas and electric vehicles.

At the meeting, coauthor Trevor Houser presented his analysis of each of these proposals in depth and assessed their ability to curb US oil imports, reduce gasoline prices, increase American resilience to global oil market disruptions, and improve US national security. His presentation was followed by a panel discussion led by Daniel Yergin, Pulitzer Prize winning author of The Prize and Chairman of Cambridge Energy Research Associates. Heather Zichal, Deputy Assistant to the President for Energy and Climate Change and McKie Campbell, Republican Staff Director for the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, also joined the discussion.