Front Lines; December 2008; Scientific American Earth 3.0; by Shirley Ann Jackson; Peter Barnes, Jerome Ringo; Steven Kyle; Patricia Zaradi;, Cass R. Sunstein and Richard H. Thaler; 8 Page(s)

Energy security is the greatest challenge and the greatest opportunity of our time. But lack of action has put the U.S. at risk. America needs a bold plan that ignites our collective imagination, sparks innovation, and creates economic and national security. The starting point? A call to action from our new president in the first 100 days of his administration.

The president, Congress and industry must proceed with haste because a seismic restructuring of the global energy system is under way. Oil and natural gas consumption is rising at an unsustainable rate. Western companies that have controlled Middle Eastern oil since World War II are losing prominence. New powerhouses, notably Saudi Arabia¿s Aramco, Russia¿s Gazprom, China¿s CNPC, Iran¿s NIOC, Venezuela¿s PDVSA, Brazil¿s Petrobras, and Malaysia¿s Petronas, control more than one third of the world¿s oil and gas reserves. The International Energy Agency estimates that 90 percent of new production over the next 40 years will come from developing countries.