Running on Empty: America's Energy Security

Running on Empty: America's Energy Security

James Woolsey, James Schlesinger and Daniel Yergin Among Leading Experts to Participate in America Abroad Media Public Radio Special on the State of the Nation's Energy Security and the Possibility of a New Oil Crisis

WASHINGTON, Aug. 16 /PRNewswire/ -- As oil prices top $65 a barrel and Americans brace themselves for continued price hikes at the pump, leading energy experts and former high-level government officials discuss the nation's precarious dependency on foreign oil in the face of ever-growing demand, terrorist threats and instability in the Middle East. Running on Empty: America's Energy Security is produced by America Abroad Media and anchored by veteran journalist Ray Suarez, with reports from correspondents Marvin Kalb, Steve Roberts, Garrick Utley and Margaret Warner. The one-hour international affairs program will begin airing on public radio stations nationwide on August 17, 2005 (check local listings at http://www.americaabroadmedia.org/).

"We import now 60 percent or so of our oil, whereas we imported about 30 percent back in the 1970s," says former CIA Director James Woolsey. "You do have a sense of deja vu about some of this, but it's a lot worse now."

Participating guests include James Akins, fmr. U.S. ambassador, Saudi Arabia; Robert Bryce, journalist and author, "Pipe Dreams: Greed, Ego, and the Death of Enron"; Robbie Diamond, president, Securing America's Future Energy (SAFE); Lawrence Goldstein, president, PIRA Energy Group; David Goldwyn, fmr. assistant secretary of energy, Clinton Administration and co-author of "Energy and Security: Toward a New Foreign Policy Strategy"; Frank Jungers, fmr. president and CEO of Aramco; Dr. Gal Luft, executive director, Institute of Analysis of Global Security (IAGS); James Schlesinger, fmr. Secretary of Energy and Defense, Carter Administration; James Woolsey, fmr. CIA director and member of the National Energy Commission; and Daniel Yergin, president, Cambridge Energy Research Associates.

"The United States Congress just passed the first comprehensive energy bill in several years, and yet many critics argue that the bill did little to address the risks posed by America's dependence on oil," says Aaron Lobel, executive producer of the program and president of America Abroad Media.

Running on Empty: America's Energy Security examines the history of America's 140-year relationship with oil, how the United States responded to the 1973 oil embargo, and how to better protect our nation against another energy crisis.

Funding for America Abroad Media is provided by the Ford Foundation, the Smith Richardson Foundation, Carnegie Corporation, The Economist, the Draper Richards Foundation, and The Starr Foundation. Other radio programs America Abroad has produced include: The Neo-cons and America's Foreign Policy; Battling for Hearts and Minds; and Pakistan: America's Unstable Ally, among others.

America Abroad Media is a non-partisan, independent media organization dedicated to informing and educating the American people about international affairs and facilitating cross-cultural discussion about international issues and America's role in the world. Founded in 2001, America Abroad Media productions include: America Abroad, an international affairs public radio program distributed in the United States by Public Radio International (PRI) and internationally by National Public Radio (NPR) Worldwide; AAM Television, which brings together students from America and around the world with senior policymakers and experts to discuss important issues in international affairs; and AAM YouthSPAN, a global videoconferencing project that facilitates thoughtful discussion and direct interaction between U.S. students and their counterparts around the world.

Source: America Abroad Media

CONTACT: Kelly Keane, +1-410-321-0137, kkeane@goodmanmedia.com, for
America Abroad Media

Web site: http://www.americaabroadmedia.org/

NOTE TO EDITORS: To set up interviews with any of the reporting correspondents above on the issue of America's energy security, or for a copy of the transcript of this program, please call 410-321-0137.

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