CITIZEN POWER ALLIANCE

Energy, specifically transportation energy, is now "the No. 1 issue" facing the United States and its economy, the World Congress of the 103-year-old SAE International heard last week.

John Mizrock, principal deputy assistant secretary to the U.S. Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energytold a panel discussion in Detroit, the U.S. will shortly be spending "more than the rest of the world combined in developing alternative fuels."

The U.S. doesn't have much choice: "I think it is safe to say the U.S. economy is completely dependent on transportation," Mizrock told some of the more than 30,000 automotive engineers and industry executives attending the event.

The U.S. owns 25 per cent of the world's 900 million cars and light trucks (up from 70 million in 1960) and consumes 25 per cent of the world's oil, despite having only five per cent of the world's population. And it isn't one of the eight countries which controls the global oil economy.

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