The Hill News

This week, the American Security Project released the 2012 edition of its annual White Paper, “America’s Energy Choices”. The paper details a range of options for America’s energy future, ranging from coal to natural gas and solar to tidal power. It shows how each contributes to America’s energy make-up and how our business and political leaders should weigh the competing priorities of energy security, economic stability, and environmental sustainability when making decisions.
 
In preparing the update for this year’s report, it is clear that fundamental changes are underway in America’s energy supply and demand structure. While these changes will take decades to play out, the trends show that the U.S. is moving away from its consumer-oriented energy structure towards an economy that shows an interest in energy production, and even exports.
 
The proof is in the numbers: America imports around 9 million barrels per day (mbd) of crude oi! l, a level that has stayed mostly steady since the ’08 financial crisis â€" well below our peak of 10.6 mbd in the summer of ’06 (all numbers quoted are from the Energy Information Agency). However, since July of 2011, America has become a major net exporter of refined petroleum products, to a peak of 1.1 mbd just this past week.

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