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[JTW Interview] Dr. Gal Luft: What really Moves the World Today is Cheap Energy |
22 June 2011By Gozde Citler, JTW
Journal of Turkish Weekly conducted an exclusive interview with Dr. Gal Luft, Director of the Institute for the Analysis of Global Security concerning the world energy issues.
Gozde Citler: Energy security has been in the main political agenda all over the world for years. Is the US successful in achieving energy security?
Dr. Gal Luft: You have to decide one of these two: you have energy security in transportation which is oil, and you have energy security in electricity which is everything except for oil. I think when it comes to electricity, the United States enjoys very good energy security, and the US generates all of its electricity domestically while it is not dependent on anybody unlike Europe that has to import gas from Russia. In this respect the US is doing very well. Where the US does not do very well is transportation. Because the US economy is heavily dependent on oil and oil enjoys a monopoly over transportation sector. It is a little bit nuanced answer. It is like you asking me ‘how do you do health-wise’, ‘my heart is ok, but my skin is not’. You have to look various components of energy security and assess each one how the US is doing and as I said the US is doing very well in one and doing very poorly in the other.
Gozde Citler: Recently Critical Energy Infrastructure Protection (CEIP) has also become an important part of the energy security. What are the risks and threats towards the CEIP in the US?
Dr. Gal Luft: The US has shown that it is very robust in terms of CEIP. During the time of Hurricane Katrina, United States lost 14 refineries, they went offline. Still the system handled it very well, gas prices were managed well. I think while there is always risk for any facility, fire or localized attack but in the end the system is highly robust. There have been few incidents particularly in 2003 Northeast Blackout taught us a lot of lessons. Where the US is weak is in the areas that are outside its borders, upstream. These are the areas that the US has relatively low impact and low ability to impact but overall I feel the US has a very robust system.
Gozde Citler: Which policies and measures were taken to ensure protection of infrastructures and are those measures adequate and successful?
Dr. Gal Luft: Technology has a role to play but you have to make sure that you do not overinvest to technology to a point that energy becomes unaffordable. We know that what works very well is to bury stuff. When you bury a pipeline it is much more difficult to attack it and to cause damage. Upfront investment and the construction pays very good dividend down the road. I think what happens is that we see again and again that when we invest sufficiently, taking into consideration all kinds of potential mishaps, we save the money down the road; but try to cut corners and spend less where we end up is spending more. However in any energy project there is always a risk. Risk is an inherent part of any business, when you open a shoe store somebody can burn it or you can have a fire or flood or robbery. It is a cost of doing business. I think that is true for energy projects as well. I do not think that a government should use taxpayers’ dollars to protect to the point that the energy that the taxpayers buy becomes unaffordable. Because what really moves the world today is cheap energy, it is not expensive energy. Cheap energy is essential for prosperity. |
22 June 2011
Gozde Citler, JTW
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