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The Environmental and Energy Study Institute sponsored a Congressional briefing to discuss national energy security. The federal government, as well as state and local governments, is focused on combating terrorism and improving national security after the September 11th attacks in New York City and Washington, D.C. This briefing looked at the existing energy system and its vulnerabilities, as well as some of the steps and solutions to providing the nation and the economy a more secure and reliable energy system. Some of these same solutions provide the ancillary benefits of decreasing greenhouse gas emissions and other pollutants, increasing jobs, stimulating economic activity, and spurring rural economic development.

Senator Susan Collins (R-ME), a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, co-hosted the briefing and provided opening remarks. The expert panel included:

• Richard H. Truly, Director, National Renewable Energy Laboratory; and retired Vice Admiral of the U.S. Navy. Truly served as NASA's eighth Administrator under President Bush from 1989-92, and his career in aviation and space programs of the U.S. Navy and NASA spanned 35 years.



• Bill Holmberg, President, Biorefiner; Board Member, New Uses Council; and retired Marine Corps Lt. Colonel. Holmberg has been involved in national security and renewable energy issues since 1973, and has been recognized by Majority Leader Tom Daschle for his work in support of biofuels. Holmberg was awarded the nation's second highest award, the Naval Cross, and was recognized by President Bush in his address to this year's Naval Academy graduating class.



• Richard Cowart, Director and Principal, Regulatory Assistance Project; and former Chair of the Vermont Public Service Board. He also served as President of the New England Conference of Public Utility Commissioners, and is the author of a recent study for NARUC, "Efficient Reliability: the Critical Role of Demand-side Resources in Power Systems and Markets."



• Peter Bradford, former Chair of the New York State Public Service Commission and the Maine Public Utilities Commission; and former Commissioner of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). Bradford currently advises and teaches on utility regulation, restructuring and energy policy. During his term, the NRC undertook major improvements of its regulatory and enforcement processes in the wake of the Three Mile Island accident. Click here to review his remarks.

The nation’s energy system is inextricably linked to national security. Two-thirds of the world’s oil reserves are in the Middle East. Energy fuels the U.S. economy, and disruptions to the nation’s energy supply hinder the economy and economic growth. The United States currently imports over 50 percent of its oil with nearly a quarter of U.S. imports coming from the Persian Gulf. There are now many national security discussions about power plants as potential targets for terrorist attacks, which could cause major disruptions in power generation. In particular, attacks on nuclear power plants could pose a great risk to human life. Key to energy security is finding the means to provide uninterrupted power to fuel the country’s daily activities and economic well-being, relying on secure supplies of fuel and electricity and the unimpeded transportation of those energy supplies through transmission lines and pipelines to where it is needed.

Distributed generation of renewable energy sources is often cited as a way to diversify the nation’s energy supply and disburse the locations of energy generation, providing smaller energy generation sites closer to the end-user, as opposed to large, centrally located plants which potentially could be more vulnerable to terrorist attack. Renewable energy resources, such as biomass, geothermal, solar, and wind, are abundant and located throughout the United States. Combined heat and power and district energy technologies can also greatly increase the efficiency of a distributed energy network. Numerous experts have suggested that efficiency gains and the use of distributed generation contribute to a power system that is more resilient to stresses on the electricity distribution system, deliberate attacks, and volatile market forces (due to domestic and/or international factors). In addition, it will lower the nation’s energy bill and its stress on the economy.

Two-thirds of all the oil used in the United States is consumed in the transport sector, which is 98 percent dependent on petroleum. Fuel use could be significantly decreased if advanced vehicle technologies, including electric-hybrid, fuel cell, advanced battery and an array of other available technology applications, were to be broadly deployed to improve the fuel economy of vehicles. Moreover, the use of domestically produced renewable biofuels, such as ethanol and biodiesel, could decrease our dependence on foreign oil from unstable regions of the world, promote rural economic development, and protect the environment.