Press Release of Senator Lugar Lugar calls for strengthening oil crisis mechanisms, global cooperation on energy security Friday, February 13, 2009 U.S. Sen. Dick Lugar today called for the formal inclusion of China and India in the International Energy Agency (IEA). Yesterday, Lugar met with IEA Executive Director Nobuo Tanaka, who is a proponent of Chinese and Indian membership.   “After the 1973-74 oil crisis, import dependent countries realized their citizens would be more secure through formal cooperation. It is time to update that system,” Lugar said. “Global energy security will be strengthened through vigorous bilateral and multilateral partnership on efficiency, cleaner energy and crisis response.”   The IEA was founded in 1974 with the primary objective multilateral response to oil supply disruptions, including coordinated release of strategic petroleum reserves which are independently owned by IEA member states. The last release was in response to Hurricane Katrina. China is the now the second largest oil consumer in the world.    “Even as we bolster our efforts to move away from oil, we must not fail to strengthen our capacity to respond to crisis,” Lugar said. “IEA membership brings both energy security benefits, and responsibilities.”   “When the global economy recovers, global oil demand will once again surge. In a tight oil supply situation, all of us – from Beijing to New Delhi, to Brussels and Indianapolis – will be vulnerable to terrorists, militants and natural disasters threatening global oil flows.”   In her Senate confirmation hearing, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton affirmed her support for Chinese and Indian membership in the IEA “up to and including” revision of its founding treaty (http://lugar.senate.gov/energy/press/pdf/ClintonQFR.pdf). In 2007, the Senate endorsed Lugar-Biden legislation promoting Chinese and Indian membership (http://lugar.senate.gov/energy/legislation/index.cfm#193).   The IEA also provides a forum for technology collaboration and information sharing, including vehicle technology, biofuels, and other areas. In Indiana, the Richard G. Lugar Center for Renewable Energy at Indiana University-Purdue University as Indianapolis (IUPUI) collaborates as part of the IEA working group on hydrogen.   For more than a decade, Lugar has stressed the strategic importance of energy security (http://lugar.senate.gov/energy/). Lugar’s legislative efforts promote sustainable energy production and use, incentives for renewable fuels use like bringing cellulosic ethanol to market and promoting E85 stations and cars, increasing automobile fuel economy, and clean coal technology.   # # #