Udall: US energy policy a threat
to security

Copyright © 2009
Gallup Independent
By Kathy Helms
Diné Bureau

WASHINGTON — U.S. Sen.Tom Udall, D-N.M., in his first speech on the floor of the U.S. Senate Monday, spoke about the need for an ambitious national strategy to create American jobs in the industries of the future, adding that U.S. energy policies “pose a threat to the economic, environmental and national security of our nation and the world.”

Udall said economic stagnation and energy irresponsibility demand a common solution. “We must put Americans to work building the energy economy of the future. And we must do so now.

Udall said U.S. energy policies have produced “a perfect storm,” a combination of three extraordinary challenges that collectively threaten America’s future.

“First, America’s dependence on fossil fuels threatens our economy. As natural gas provides a growing share of America’s electricity, the price of gas has more than tripled since 1995. And growing demand promises to make matters worse.

“Second, America’s energy policies threaten our security. America has just three percent of the world’s natural gas reserves, but we consume 25 percent of the world’s supply. That increasingly means sending American dollars to Russia and Iran, two countries that sit on more than 43 percent of the world’s gas reserves and two countries that have shown their willingness to use energy as an instrument of coercion.