Oct 23 - United Press International



The United States needs a high-level independent council to analyze and explain critical energy issues, energy experts said.

A group of 27 experts from U.S. universities, the government and business make that recommendation in a new report called Perspectives on Energy Policy.

Ensuring energy for the future means acting now to help policymakers and the public understand effective solutions, Les Shephard, vice president of Sandia National Laboratories, said in a release Friday.

An independent council could assess the nation's energy security status in much the same way that the Council on Foreign Relations improves understanding of U.S. foreign policy and international affairs, said the energy group, convened last spring at the University of California, San Diego.

Such a council would help deepen the public's understanding of how security, economics and environmental considerations interact in energy policy decisions, the report said.

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