With the anniversary of September 11^th upon us, many Americans will reflect on such issues as the war on terrorism, our responsibilities as citizens, and the security of our homeland. Many of us are also evaluating our government’s efforts to energize our economy, restore our faith in capital markets, hold accountable corporate criminals, address the lack of affordable health care coverage available to all Americans, provide a prescription drug benefit under Medicare, and preserve Social Security. But in these uncertain times, another issue deserves attention: America’s dependence on foreign oil.

This is no excuse for trying to pillage the Arctic National Wilderness -one of the premiere pristine wilderness areas in the world - for scarce oil supplies. On the contrary, those lands must be protected. However, it is time to recognize we can no longer afford to ignore the importance of conservation or the potential of technological advances to reduce consumption and the need to take further steps to ensure a stable supply of oil.

First, the Administration needs to the end to the discrimination against cars and in favor of trucks, SUVs, and vans by supporting stronger Corporate Average Fuel Efficiency (CAFE) standards. Sport utility vehicles (SUVs) are classified as "light trucks,"and manufactures have exploited the 20.7 mpg standard for light trucks, while passenger automobiles must abide by a 27.5 mpg standard. All commuters should make the same contribution to energy conservation.

Funding for alternative fuels is also urgently needed. Unfortunately, the Administration proposed a budget that would reduce expenditures on technology research, making us more energy independent. After September 11^th , I hope the Administration realized just how important that technology is.

The fact is, we will likely be dependent upon imported oil for the next 30 to 50 years. There is, however, no world oil shortage. There is a world market for oil, and even if we received only safe oil - produced domestically, or in Mexico, Canada - the question would be: how much do we have to pay for it? Together, our friends in Canada, Mexico, and Texas have sufficient supply, but they seem to want to charge us the same price that Kuwait is charging Japan. At some point that oil price becomes so high as to disrupt our economy, if not create shortages. That is why we need long-term contracts at fixed prices per barrel of oil and an agreement with our friends in Canada and Mexico that we should insulate ourselves from changes in world prices.

Finally, we need to massively expand the strategic petroleum reserve (SPR). We need two, three, perhaps four billion barrels of oil reserves to endure several decades of American dependency on imported oil and sustained disruptions, including warfare, in the Middle East. Building the pipelines and storage capacity will take time and money and the oil needs to be paid for, but with the volatility of diplomatic relations and world markets, can we afford to wait?