The economic fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic shows the importance of ensuring that the U.S. is not dependent on other countries for oil, a nonpartisan think tank said.
Securing America’s Future Energy, or SAFE, announced an initiative Thursday called Get America Moving Again to promote the rebuilding of America’s economic competitiveness and security to ensure industrial leadership. The group advocates policies that curb energy dependence on foreign oil.
The initiative calls for a 15-point plan to support the reopening of the U.S. energy and transportation industries amid the pandemic.
SAFE is backed by members of the Energy Security Leadership Council, which is made up of current and former CEOs of Goldman Sachs, Transdev Group, FedEx, Waste Management and other U.S. military and business leaders.
Navy Adm. Dennis Blair, a member of the council, said on a call Wednesday that the U.S. needs to prepare for global trends as the shift to electric vehicles becomes more prominent, especially as China takes an early lead in EV development.
The initiative says that to get the economy back on track, the electric sector needs to be prepared for the future. During economic downturns, it is common for forward-looking investments to take a back seat, but the report says that halting electric development would hurt the global leadership of the U.S.
Adam Goldstein, former CEO of Royal Caribbean Cruises and a member of the council, said on the same call that it is important to optimize efficiencies in the transportation of goods and focus on resilience when reopening the economy.
The U.S. needs to “put the country on a better trajectory for the future,” Goldstein said.
Recommendations from the initiative include increasing the deployment of micromobility transportation and reducing dependency on oil by shifting to electric and autonomous vehicles.
“If we want to rebuild, we might as well rebuild smarter,” SAFE CEO Robbie Diamond said.
As the economy reopens, Diamond recommends increasing the safety and security of the power grid and modernizing technologies to make the U.S. safer and stronger.