Skyrocketing oil prices pummel U.S. national security

Unless the United States' energy structure changes radically and rapidly, soaring oil prices will leave the country at the mercy of hostile states and terrorists, witnesses testified Thursday in Congress.

The United States currently consumes close to 21 million barrels of oil per day and imports almost 14 million barrels a day, or 60 percent. Countries in the Persian Gulf supply 16 percent of those imports, according to the Energy Information Agency, with another 10 percent coming from Venezuela.

Relying on these countries for the nation's lifeblood puts the United States at serious risk because it gives power to those who oppose U.S. policy, said Rep. Howard Berman, D-Calif., chairman of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs.

"Many sources of fossil fuels on the world market are in parts of the world that are either unstable or politically unfriendly to the United States," Berman said Thursday at a hearing in the Foreign Affairs Committee. "This provides leverage for those who control these energy supplies, enabling them to challenge U.S. foreign policy objectives."

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