
SECURING AMERICA’S ENERGY FUTURE
ENERGY SECURITY LEADERSHIP COUNCIL
Too often, America’s exposure to the risks of oil dependence has been measured by consumers and
policymakers as a function of the price of oil at a specific point in time or our level of reliance on foreign
suppliers. The result has been long periods of inaction and inattention after each crisis, which simply
leaves the country dangerously exposed for the inevitable next crisis. The risk of such complacence
today is high. Low oil prices have reduced the sense of urgency shared throughout the country as
recently as 2014. Yet just as it has been so many times before, the oil market is in the midst of a cycle.
We must be better prepared when the tide once again turns.