U.S. Sen. Dick Lugar, Ranking Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, commended Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s commitment today on two key international energy security initiatives: naming of an International Energy Coordinator and strong support of the Nabucco pipeline.
“U.S. national security demands attention to energy at the highest levels of our diplomacy. Secretary Clinton understands this reality, and her commitments to naming a strong International Energy Coordinator and fully supporting the Nabucco pipeline project demonstrate that she intends to back her words with concrete action,” Lugar said.
In his opening statement to the hearing, Senator Lugar said “Energy vulnerability constrains our foreign policy options around the world, limiting effectiveness in some cases and forcing our hand in others. Progress will require personal engagement by the Secretary of State.”
Testifying before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee today, Secretary Clinton announced the imminent appointment of a high-level International Energy Coordinator at the State Department. The International Energy Coordinator position was established by legislation Lugar first offered in March 2006. The Coordinator would be charged to ensure that energy security receives constant attention in U.S. diplomatic activity, among other duties.
Secretary Clinton also affirmed United States priority support for the Nabucco pipeline project, noting her personal engagement on the issue. She also noted appointment of Ambassador Richard Morningstar as Special Envoy for Eurasian Energy, a position encouraged by Lugar. Nabucco would link Caspian natural gas supplies with consumers in Europe. Commending recent political agreement on Nabucco, last week Lugar said, “Energy security is essential for the national security of every country. Nabucco will help safeguard the independence and prosperity of each nation involved. Importing and exporting nations alike will benefit when no one country monopolizes supply routes.”
International Energy Coordinator
The International Energy Coordinator was established into law in December 2007 as part of the Energy Independence and Security Act, based on provisions from Lugar’s Energy Diplomacy and Security Act, which had principle co-sponsorship of Vice President Joe Biden. The bill intended to bolster the State Department's capability to integrate energy security needs into our diplomatic activities. It created a Coordinator for International Energy Affairs within the Office of the Secretary of State that would be charged with ensuring energy security is integrated into State Department activities and to liaise with other federal agencies.
In a letter to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in August 2006, Lugar explained the need for an International Energy Coordinator at the State Department:
“It is essential that the State Department have in place a high-ranking official exclusively devoted to energy security and able to speak with your voice at home and abroad. Given the changing political dynamics of energy security worldwide, this official needs to have broad authority to mobilize our government’s bureaucracy to address the political, security, economic, development and environmental challenges posed by energy. The official needs to be empowered to speak with your authority to be an effective coordinator of energy activities between the bureaus of the State Department, and this authority is doubly necessary for the State Department to be a strong voice in the inter-agency coordination of international energy activities and policy formulation. Additionally, this person should have a direct line of communication to your office so that pressing energy security priorities are not lost in the agendas of the already over-stretched Under-Secretaries and Assistant Secretaries.”
Nabucco Pipeline Project
In 2008, Senator Lugar undertook a three-leg mission to promote energy security that took him from Central Asia, through the southern Caucasus and Europe, and to Russia. The first leg was in January, followed by a leg in August and one in December. This mission came at a critical time. The trans-Atlantic alliance has long been a source of stability and prosperity in the world. However,
unity in the alliance has come under strain as some countries have struggled to improve their energy security.
He vigorously advocated a first priority: completing the so-called East-West energy corridor to bring oil and natural gas across the Caspian Sea from Central Asia to distribution points in Europe, primarily through the proposed Nabucco pipeline. This led to meetings with top government officials in Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Turkey, Romania, Ukraine, Germany, France, and the European Union based in Belgium. Opening the East-West energy corridor will be a bulwark against political manipulation of gas/energy supplies in the region by helping to provided diversification of gas supplies to Europe.
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