FedEx chairman calls on US Congress to boost energy security
FedEx corporation chairman Frederick W Smith is leading a push to get US lawmakers to do more to protect the security of energy supplies. Smith, co-chair of the Energy Security Leadership Council at the Washington DC-based thinktank Securing America’s Future Energy, said on Friday that US reliance on oil from “unfriendly” parts of the globe was too much of a risk.
“It is one of the United States’ greatest economic risks to be tethered to these increasing supplies of imported petroleum from unstable and often unfriendly parts of the world,” said the FedEx Corporation chairman, president and CEO.
“It’s unsustainable. The country has to mobilize and take some action to finally address this problem, which has been going on now for an awfully long period of time.”
Smith’s warning came as oil prices rose 14% last week, in response to a drop in output in Libya prompted by the ongoing social unrest.
Libya is the 17th largest oil producer in the world and third largest in Africa, but while figures have been difficult to confirm, the International Energy Agency said Libya was producing around 850,000 barrels of oil a day currently, around half its usual output.
However, oil prices did ease slightly on Monday (February 28) on news that Kuwait and Saudi Arabia were willing to up production to compensate for Libya’s production dip.
Security
Since publishing a white paper in 2008, Smith’s Energy Security Leadership Council has been pushing for America to expand its domestic energy supplies, including more oil and gas drilling as well as development of renewable sources.
The group also seeks to diversify energy supplies with an electrification of transport systems and push for more biofuel use. Other priorities for the group include encouraging a more efficient use of energy and development of new technologies.
It also calls for global risks to be managed, including potential military options.
Retired General Charles F Wald, the former deputy commander of US European Command and another member of the group, said there had already been “several wake-up calls” in the past for America’s energy security.
“I think as we see the events in Africa and North Africa and into the Middle East itself, it just is another reminder of how fragile the stability of that region is,” he said. “It is time for our country to become less dependent on imported oil.”
America has no real long-term energy strategy, relying instead on annual spending commitments from Congress to encourage development of alternative energy sources. Last year, attempts to get comprehensive energy reforms into Congress ran out of time before November’s election.
Earlier this month, the President’s Budget allocated $3.2bn for energy efficiency and renewable energy programs, but proposed cuts in research and development spending elsewhere as part of attempts to cut the federal deficit.
FedEx, as with other carriers in the US, have been actively looking at improving their own energy security and environmental impacts by making more use of alternative transport options.
The company has deployed electric and hybrid vehicles, natural gas-powered vehicles and biodiesel fueled trucks, as well as testing out technologies like fuel cell and hybrid hydraulic systems.
