Congressional Briefing on U.S. Energy Security Policy by CNAS Senior Fellow Sharon Burke

The Center for a New American Security (CNAS) held a congressional staff briefing on the recently published report A Strategy for American Power: Energy, Climate and National Security with Sharon Burke, Senior Fellow at CNAS, and special guests.

Sharon Burke began the discussion by highlighting the need for a U.S. energy security strategy that will cut both our dependence on oil and our greenhouse gas emissions. Currently the energy we use keeps our economy and security dependent on unstable and hostile states, vulnerable to natural disasters, and subject to the consequences of climate change. With a comprehensive strategy to change both our supply of fuels and our demand, the United States can win the energy war, just as the strategy of containment helped win the Cold War.

In addition to the nature of the energy challenge, the congressional briefing focused on how to overcome the barriers to actually meeting this challenge, including public opinion, political gridlock, international realities, and economics