Is This What Energy Independence Looks Like?

A new report from the Energy Information Administration offers insight into the potential for the United States to achieve "energy independence" over the next twenty or so years. A great number of things would need to come together, explains CFR's Michael Levi on his blog "Energy, Security, and Climate," including improved vehicle efficiency, less driving, more natural gas powered transportation, advancements in biomass fuels, and increased production from shale gas and tight oil wells.

If anything, the projections are "a useful reminder of how far away we are from energy self-sufficiency, and the leaps one needs to make to reveal a path that would take us there," he says.