US House caucus aims to give Pentagon big role in energy effort

Washington (Platts)--20Jul2006

Members of the US House of Representatives on Thursday formed a caucus
that aims to give the Defense Department a big role in developing oil-saving
technologies in an effort to slash the military's petroleum needs and thus its
risks to a supply disruption.

The Armed Services Committee members who are heading the caucus are
principally concerned that an oil shock would cripple the US military and put
national security at great risk, but they are also interested in reducing
American petroleum demand to lower pump prices.

The Defense Department accounts for 97% of the US government's oil demand
and spent nearly $11 billion on fuel last year.

The Defense Energy Working Group will evaluate the military's
vulnerabilities to a sudden supply cutoff and encourage the Defense Department
to develop oil-saving technologies in concert with automakers and defense
contractors. One of the leaders of the caucus, Representative Steve Israel,
Democrat-New York, said the department could be a "base of experimentation and
innovation."

Another leader, Representative Roscoe Bartlett, Republican-Maryland,
railed at existing federal energy research, including at the Energy
Department, saying it is "barely nibbling at the margins of the [oil]
problem." Bartlett believes world oil production has reached or is near its
peak.

The caucus may also advocate Congress requiring DOD to purchase such
things as plug-in hybrid cars to drive US demand for the fuel-efficient
vehicles. It will have the support of former CIA chief James Woolsey, who
called the Defense Department's role on reducing US oil demand "hugely
important." Woolsey is a member of the Defense Science Board and is himself
analyzing the Defense Department's oil vulnerabilities. He said the panel
could prompt "big changes" in the department's use of energy beginning later
this year.

--Mike Schmidt, mike_schmidt@platts.com

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