maintaining consensus in oil export is the function of_________
Answers
Answer:
Explanation:
With momentum building to modernize our nation’s energy policy to reflect this new era of energy abundance, there is growing consensus that lifting the ban on crude oil exports will protect and create jobs, enhance our national security, grow our economy and provide our allies and trading partners with an alternative when sourcing their energy needs.
To-date, nearly a dozen governors have voiced their support for ending the ban, including Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper, who wrote a letter to Commerce Secretary Pritzker earlier this year to request her “support and that of the broader Administration for full legislative repeal of the crude oil export ban.” Governor Hickenlooper is not alone. Sharing this position are former secretaries of defense, treasury, energy and commerce, national security advisors, labor unions, editorial boards, economists and think tanks across the political spectrum. Here’s a sampling of what the experts are saying about crude oil exports:
Former Cabinet and Sub-Cabinet Officials Support Crude Oil Exports
Larry Summers, former economic policy adviser to Presidents Obama and Clinton: “I believe that the question of whether the United States should have a substantially more permissive policy with respect to the export of crude oil and with respect to the export of natural gas is easy. The answer is affirmative. The merits are as clear as the merits with respect to any significant public policy issue that I have ever encountered.” (Brookings speech, 9/9/14)
Leon Panetta, former Secretary of Defense, Director of the CIA and Member of Congress: “Too often foreign-policy debates in America focus on issues such as how much military power should be deployed to the Middle East, whether the U.S. should provide arms to the Ukrainians, or what tougher economic sanctions should be imposed on Iran. Ignored is a powerful, nonlethal tool: America’s abundance of oil and natural gas. The U.S. remains the great arsenal of democracy. It should also be the great arsenal of energy.” (Wall Street Journal, 5/19/15)
William Cohen, former Secretary of Defense: “A prudent way to support the continued expansion of the U.S. energy sector and our domestic energy security is to level the playing field by relaxing restrictions on American crude oil and LNG exports… For the first time in a half century, President Obama has the opportunity to re-write the energy balance of power in our favor and solidify his legacy on trade. President Obama is the only U.S. president in decades who has had the tool of energy abundance at his disposal; he should use it.” (Time, 5/27/15)
John Deutch, former Undersecretary of Energy, Deputy Secretary of Defense and Director or the CIA: “With U.S. oil production on a long-term uptick, the long-standing ban on direct exports of crude should be abolished… Let’s hope the export ban is lifted with broad bipartisan support. The result will increase U.S. jobs and increase the country’s influence in world oil markets, with little risk of higher gasoline prices for consumers.” (Wall Street Journal, 8/11/15)
Bill Richardson, former New Mexico Governor and Secretary of Energy: “New Mexico is like the entire oil patch, is starting to hurt. We’ve got shale, we’ve got oil and gas. Our budget, our education depends a lot on oil and gas royalties. And we’re hurting, because right now, as you mentioned in your dialog, there is an oversupply… This is why it does make sense to lift the oil export ban. It makes no sense. It’s a relic of the 70s and 80s. Because this will allow us geopolitically to deal with the Russians in Eastern Europe – they use natural gas as a political weapon. (CNBC, 8/7/15)
Tom Donilon, former National Security Advisor to President Obama: “The US has consistently opposed efforts by countries to manipulate their exports…By allowing exports, we permit production decisions in the United States to be made fully on the basis of market forces rather than being influenced by artificially imposed regulatory constraints…This in turn will increase diversity of supply, increase competition, reduce volatility and lower prices in global markets.”
Michèle Flournoy, former Under Secretary of Defense for Policy and CEO of the Center for a New American Security: “Lifting oil export restrictions will yield a variety of security dividends to the United States. First and foremost, allowing crude exports would further strengthen our economy – the foundation of our national security… Shoring up the United States’ economic position would, in turn, strengthen our ability to play a much needed leadership role in international security and economic affairs. And we should not underestimate the degree to which becoming an exporter could impact perceptions of the United States as a vital global power, helping to discredit erroneous narratives of U.S. decline.”