March 30, 2011 – New York – AJC applauded President Obama’s announcement of a plan to dramatically reduce America’s dependence on foreign oil over the next decade.

“We agree wholeheartedly with President Obama’s clarion call to diminish our dependence on oil from hostile nations and change the way Americans consume energy,” said Richard Foltin, AJC national affairs and legislative director. “Comprehensive energy proposals have been offered many times since 1973, and allowed to falter. This time the nation must muster the will to act in unison on this critical issue.”

In line with a multi-faceted approach to reducing dependence on foreign oil long advocated by AJC, President Obama’s initiative to reduce America’s oil imports by one-third over the next decade follows two major tracks—promotion of alternative fuels and technologies aimed at reduced oil usage, and increased domestic oil exploration.

AJC hailed the president’s target of switching the entire federal fleet to advanced-technology vehicles by 2015, while also pushing for more natural gas-fueled city buses, cars and trucks; plans for regulators to finalize stricter energy efficiency standards; and a goal of building new cellulosic ethanol or advanced biofuels manufacturing plants, with construction to begin in the next two years.

AJC has long believed that the United States must set as a primary national goal a comprehensive energy policy aimed at a substantial reduction of U.S. dependence on imported oil.  Needed measures include an open fuel standard, green technologies, such as electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids, and sustained investment in research and development.

Moreover, AJC supports encouraging companies to drill for oil and natural gas on public lands and federal waters that have been leased but not developed, as outlined by the president, as well as development of other domestic oil resources with substantial environmental and safety safeguards that learn the lessons of last year’s disastrous Gulf oil spill.