United States energy independence
[6] As of March 2015, 85% of crude oil imports came from, in order of decreasing volume, Canada, Saudi Arabia, Mexico, Venezuela, and Colombia.
Foreign dependence is not the only factor in North American energy politics, however; environmental concerns around land and water pollution and greenhouse gases are also matters of controversy.
A national strategy designed to shift all transportation to a combined use of alternative fuels and plug-in hybrids is predicted[19] to make the US independent of petroleum (oil).
Oil imports are most problematic in domestic politics and energy security when they come from countries that are openly hostile to US foreign policy and interests (Iran, Venezuela, and formerly Iraq), are former or potential future rivals (Russia) or have questionable human rights practices (Saudi Arabia).
In 2012 in an editorial to Canadian newspaper The Globe and Mail Mexican president elect Enrique Peña Nieto, called North American energy security a "common goal" of Canada and Mexico.
The right-leaning Progressive Conservatives and leftist Co-operative Commonwealth Federation opposition parties opposed American involvement in the pipeline while the Liberal government supported it.
[27] Obama stated, “The fact of the matter is, is that for quite some time, America is going to be still dependent on oil in making its economy work.
[30] In March 2017, President Donald J. Trump announced the granting of a permit for construction of the Keystone XL pipeline, calling it "the first of many infrastructure projects" that he intended to approve in order to put more Americans to work.
The permitting came two months after Trump, only days into his presidency, signed an executive order aimed at reviving the Keystone XL and Dakota Access pipelines.
Trump also announced that the Interior Department would be kicking off the formal process to expand areas available for offshore drilling of oil and natural gas.
In March 2019, crude oil prices regained momentum after reports showed an unexpected drop in US fuel supplies.
The American Petroleum Institute reported domestic crude inventories declined 2.58 million barrels the previous week.
As demand recovered from the pandemic, the United States lost its "energy independence" until it regained it in the end of 2021, even though, domestic weekly production of crude oil had only grown to 11,500,000 barrels per day.
By the week ending March 18, 2022, the United States regained its "energy independence" with daily production only increasing by 100,000 barrels of crude oil per day; it has maintained it ever since.
The structure of the argument of critics is arranged as follows: In 2008, Roger Howard[46] has argued[47] in The Wall Street Journal that oil dependence has significant benefits for the US and other oil-importing nations.
Russia's stock market plunged, and "within a week capital outflow reached a massive $16 billion, suddenly squeezing domestic credit while the ruble collapsed in value."
In 2008, Andy Grove argued that energy independence is a flawed and infeasible objective, particularly in a network of integrated global exchange.
Resilience is one of the best features of market processes; the information transmission function of prices means that individual buyers and sellers can adapt to changes in supply and demand conditions in a decentralized way.
[48] In 2008, former vice president Al Gore challenged the United States to commit to producing all electricity from renewable sources (AERS) like solar and wind power in 10 years.
[49][50] Both the Center for Resource Solutions and former president Barack Obama have publicly stated they support Al Gore's AERS goal.
[51] Canada is the world's second largest producer of hydroelectricity (after China) and exported three billion dollars worth of electricity to the US in 2015, mostly from the major hydro-producing provinces of Québec, Ontario, Manitoba and British Columbia.
