Washington, D.C.—In connection with a hearing today with the House Committee on Energy & Commerce’s Subcommittee on Environment and Climate Change on moving away from petroleum-based fuels in the transportation sector, Securing America’s Future Energy (SAFE) submitted a letter for the hearing record that outlined the economic and national security need for reducing our dependence on oil.

In the letter, submitted as part of the Subcommittee’s hearing, “Building a 100 Percent Clean Economy: Solutions for Planes, Trains and Everything Beyond Automobiles,” SAFE President and CEO Robbie Diamond stated that electric vehicles (EVs) “present one of the greatest opportunities to dramatically reduce our nation’s oil dependence.”

Diamond added, “By utilizing electricity to charge rapidly-improving battery technology, we can diversify our transportation sector with a domestic and fundamentally-scalable energy supply for which the prices are relatively stable.”

The letter also urged the Subcommittee to consider policy measures in three key areas that would ultimately serve to enhance U.S. economic and national security: Preparing the grid for the proliferation of EVs, encouraging the electrification of medium- and heavy-duty EVs, and preserving strong fuel efficiency standards.

The letter also expresses SAFE’s ongoing support for H.R. 2741, the Leading Infrastructure for Tomorrow’s America (LIFT America) Act, which would help to streamline the transition to EVs. SAFE provided recommendations for strengthening key provisions of the bill that would address the Clean School Buses Program, the Technical Assistance and Grant Program, and State Transportation Electrification Planning Grants—and emphasized the opportunity for this legislation to help reduce U.S. dependence on oil. A volatile commodity, affected by factors as varied as OPEC market manipulation and the weather, the United States’ extreme reliance on oil to power 92 percent of the U.S. transportation system jeopardizes our economic sovereignty and constrains foreign policy.

Diamond concluded, “The United States must seize the opportunity to disrupt oil’s virtual monopoly over the transportation sector—and, in the process, adopt solutions that will enable the movement of American consumers and goods using electricity and vehicles produced by Americans, for Americans.”

Click here to read the letter.

 About Securing America’s Future Energy

Securing America’s Future Energy (SAFE) is an action-oriented, nonpartisan organization that aims to reduce America’s dependence on oil. Near-total dependence on petroleum in the transportation sector undermines the nation’s economic and national security, and constrains U.S. foreign policy. To combat these threats, SAFE advocates for expanded domestic production of U.S. oil and gas resources, continued improvements in vehicle fuel efficiency, and transportation sector innovations including electric vehicles, natural gas trucks, and autonomous vehicles. In 2006, SAFE joined with General P.X. Kelley (Ret.), 28th Commandant of the U.S. Marine Corps, and Frederick W. Smith, Chairman, President, and CEO of FedEx Corporation, to form the Energy Security Leadership Council (ESLC), a group of business and former military leaders committed to reducing the United States’ dependence on oil. Today, the ESLC is co-chaired by Frederick W. Smith and General James T. Conway (Ret), 34th Commandant of the U.S. Marine Corps.
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