America's dependence on foreign oil is also a national security issue

America's dependence on foreign oil is not only an economic concern but a national security issue as well. The US is highly reliant on foreign oil, much of which comes from the Middle East. During the 1970s energy crisis, America was 36 % dependent on foreign oil. Today they are 56 % dependent -- and by 2010 they're headed for well over 60 %.
For the military it now takes eight times as much oil to meet the needs of each soldier as it did during World War II. The Department of Defence now accounts for nearly 80 % of US government energy use -- 75 % of that for jet fuel. During the Persian Gulf War, 582,000 US soldiers consumed 450,000 bpd of petroleum products -- four times the amount used by the 2 mm soldiers who liberated Europe in World War II.

This is why, observers note, energy is a top priority and the White House passed a bipartisan comprehensive energy policy, which the Senate must now act on. The energy package includes provisions for encouraging conservation, efficiency and alternative sources, and (in two pages out of a 300-page bill) what proponents call "safe energy exploration" on a small tract of desolate land in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.