Energy security is essential to national security.
The current flare-up in Middle East tensions, including the deadly terrorist attack against a U.S. Navy warship refueling in Yemen, underscores the necessity for a serious U.S. energy security policy. For the past eight years, the White House and Congress failed to provide the nation with a sound energy security policy. Whatever the results of the upcoming November election, Washington politicians must face the world as it is, and defend this nation's vital interests. Oil provides about 40 percent of the energy Americans consume, and about 97 percent of our transportation fuels. Imports account for 56 percent of our consumption.