The government is taking managing energy resources to an international level through the State Department’s establishment of a new federal agency. Under the direction of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, the State Department’s Bureau of Energy Resources (BER) stated mandate is to shape “America’s global energy policy.”
“With a growing global population and a finite supply of fossil fuels, the need to diversify our energy supply is urgent,” said Secretary Clinton in an official statement on Wednesday.
Clinton added that the United States needs to “engage traditional exporters and emerging economies alike, to bolster international energy security, and ensure that countries’ natural wealth results in inclusive growth.”
According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, the United States consumes more energy than any other country in the world.
The bureau’s stated goals include shaping U.S. international energy engagement, influencing nations’ progress of moving to a cleaner energy future, and protecting U.S. energy transit routes and infrastructure.
As core goals of the bureau, the State Department says it will also work to promote supplying enough energy at affordable prices to keep markets stable. They also aim to foster market demand for green technologies and products that give a competitive advantage to the United States, and give greater energy access to developing countries, helping those economies to “find commercially and environmentally sustainable paths out of poverty.”
The State Department has noted that the United States is highly interested in energy production and access largely due to energy’s significant role in U.S. foreign policy and its long-standing interest in ensuring a secure supply of energy resources.
