The National Strategy for Energy Security: The Innovation Revolution offers a range of solutions to the challenges created by recurring extreme oil price volatility, exacerbated by the anti-market conduct of foreign governments and national oil companies.
The report is a project of the Energy Security Leadership Council, co-Chaired by Frederick W. Smith, Chairman, President and CEO of FedEx Corporation, and General James T. Conway, 34th Commandant of the U.S. Marine Corps. The Council is an alliance of business and retired military leaders dedicated to mitigating the severe threat of oil dependence to America’s economic prosperity and national security.
The National Strategy calls on government to support, rather than hinder, the innovation revolution now underway, one in which connected, autonomous vehicles powered by advanced fuels like electricity and natural gas end the monopoly of and drastically reduce demand for oil in the transportation sector while virtually eliminating crash fatalities and granting new mobility to millions of Americans.
Highlighted Recommendations:
Advancing the next generation of transportation technologies:
- Remove federal regulatory obstacles to the deployment of autonomous vehicles and allow broad commercialization once they are as safe as today’s cars.
- Federal rules on autonomous vehicles should preempt state standards. Varying state AV standards would create a patchwork of regulations and stymie adoption.
- Federal regulation on automotive safety should evolve to a more flexible and collaborative model based on performance-based standards.
- Establish autonomous vehicle deployment communities to test the technology and encourage public engagement.
- Create an alternative liability framework for early autonomous vehicle deployment to encourage adoption.
- State and federal governments should encourage the utilization of autonomous vehicles to expand mobility options for underserved groups.
Accelerating the adoption of advanced fuel vehicles powered by diverse energy sources:
- Restructure federal tax incentive for electric vehicles to remove the 200,000 vehicle-per-manufacturer cap and phase down beginning in 2021.
- Reduce the value of the federal EV tax credit for vehicles over $40,000. Remove it completely for vehicles over $55,000.
- Create incentives for medium and heavy-duty advanced fuel vehicle purchases.
- Create performance-based standards for freight trucks that enhance freight efficiency and reduce oil consumption without negatively impacting road infrastructure or safety.
The report also highlights the strategic importance of the United States’ vast oil and gas resources and advocates for the responsible and safe production of oil on currently closed-off federal lands, including in the Arctic and portions of the Outer Continental Shelf.
Taking advantage of increased U.S. oil production to improve American energy security and combat manipulation of the global oil market:
- Establish an Energy Security Trust Fund seeded with revenues from new production on the Outer Continental Shelf to fund R&D in transportation and fuel diversity technologies.
- Support responsible energy production in the Arctic, including the limited development of the ANWR using extended reach drilling and strict surface occupancy restrictions
- Establish a commission of experts to investigate anticompetitive actions by OPEC, its member states, and other national oil companies, assess their impact on the U.S. economy, and put forth policy recommendations.
- Build an international consensus among oil-consuming nations on the importance of shared responsibility and coordinated action to deal with future oil supply interruptions.
- Use the diplomatic force of the U.S. government to advocate—especially through hydraulic fracturing technology—for the development of oil and gas resources around the globe.
