Security
The Problem: America's dependence on foreign oil is putting our national security at risk
As a direct result of our over-dependence on oil, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) holds a critical lever over the U.S. economy. OPEC can, and does, increase world oil prices by purposefully reducing its production or by merely threatening to turn down the spigots.
For decades, on a bipartisan basis, the U.S. has pursued a dangerous and untenable policy of backing regimes like Saudi Arabia in order to satiate our dependency on cheap oil. At the same time, the same regime we are protecting is using oil revenue to fund radical Islamic groups inside and outside its borders to foment hatred of the United States. The effects of that hatred are now clear.
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