Originally published December 29 2005
Senator addresses the need for cooperative energy policy between U.S. and China
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
Senator Joseph Lieberman spoke to the media about the importance of a cooperative energy alliance between the United States and China, as the two countries, which consumes more than one-third of the world's oil, are competitors for dwindling oil supplies.
The United States and China should have a joint energy research and development program, a senior US Senator said, warning that the two powers could go to war in their insatiable quest for depleting foreign energy supplies.
Let's recognize this problem before it becomes an intense competition which can actually lead to military conflict," said Joseph Lieberman, the Democratic Senator from Connecticut.
Lieberman, a member of the powerful Senate Armed Services Committee, cited the formal US-China dialogue process and said, "We ought to add joint energy research and development projects to that dialogue and then begin to see if we can work together."
This is one of those situations where if you step back, you see that China and the US are in a very similar positions in terms of our dependence on foreign oil and you can see conflict coming between us for the same sources of oil.
"Why not see it and avoid by cooperative action," he said.
Their combined crude demand for 2005 is forecast at 28 million barrels per day, out of a total worldwide demand of 84.3 million barrels per day, according to the International Energy Agency.
The two countries' total oil consumption was estimated to rise by 2.7 percent in 2005, compared with the previous year -- an increase of 740,000 barrels per day.
That means Chinese and US demand for oil accounts for 42 percent of the total anticipated 2.2-percent growth in global oil demand in 2005.
"The problem is if competition between us continues, each country will be paying an enormous amount of money to buy the oil and again, I worry that in a crisis that could lead to hostilities between us," he said.
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