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Research Sources

We’re grateful to the following resources for providing background information for this activity:

Government

• U.S. Dept. of Energy, Energy Information Administration
• U.S. Department of Transportation, Bureau of Transportation Statistics
• U.S. Census Bureau, Foreign Trade Statistics
• National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the U.S., the 9/11 Commission Report

“America’s Oil Dependence and Its Implications for Middle East Policy,”

Testimony Presented to Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on Near Eastern and South Asian Affairs by Dr. Gal Luft, Institute for the Analysis of Global Security, Oct. 20, 2005

“Oil Dependence and U.S. Foreign Policy: Real Dangers, Realistic Solutions,”

Testimony Presented Before the Committee on Foreign Relations’ Subcommittee on Near Eastern and South Asian Affairs, U.S. Senate, by Tom Z. Collina, Executive Director of 20/20 Vision, Oct. 19, 2005

Articles and Background

Altman, Daniel,

“Managing Globalization: To reduce poverty, money isn’t everything,” International Herald Tribune, Aug. 21, 2007

Associated Press,

“Africa tops Mideast as U.S. crude source, helped by market changes,” Feb. 21, 2007

Associated Press,

“Bin Laden’s operatives still using freewheeling Dubai,” Sept. 2, 2004

Associated Press,

“Official: 15 of 19 Sept. 11 hijackers were Saudi,” Feb. 6, 2002

Baker, David,

“Big Oil Companies in Big Trouble" San Francisco Chronicle, Feb. 1, 2008

Bajaj, Vikas,

“U.S. Trade Deficit Sets Record, With China and Oil the Causes,” The New York Times, February 11, 2006

Baskin, Brian,

“The Next Frontier: As the Arctic gets warmer, oil and gas producers see the chance for a big expansion. But plenty of technological hurdles remain." The Wall Street Journal, Feb. 11, 2008

Bremmer, Ian,

“The Saudi Paradox,” World Policy Journal, Fall 2004

Crewdson, John,

“9/11 Study: Saudis long ignored Al Qaeda funding,” Chicago Tribune, Aug. 27, 2004

Dorsch, Gary,

“Global ‘Oil Shock’ Rattles World Stock Markets,” Global Money Trends, March 14, 2008

Durnev, Art, and Sergei Guriev,

“Resource abundance and corporate transparency,” VOX: Research-based policy analysis and commentary from leading economists, Nov. 21, 2007

El-Amir, Ayman,

“Wallowing in petrodollars,” Al Ahram Weekly Online, Nov. 1-7, 2007, Issue no. 869

Epstein, Matthew,

“Trails Lead to Saudis: A Virginia terror probe continues,” National Review Online, May 21, 2003

Fielding, Nick, and Sarah Baxter,

“Saudi Arabia is hub of world terror,” The Sunday Times, Nov. 4, 2007

Grynbaum, Michael,

“Trade Deficit Shrank by 6.2% Last Year,” The New York Times, Feb. 15, 2008

Hebert, Josef,

“Study: Ethanol may add to global warming,” Associated Press, Feb. 8, 2008

Jacobson, Michael,

“Grading U.S. Performance against Terrorism Financing,” The Washington Institute for Near East Policy, Policy Watch/Peace Watch #1280, Sept. 5, 2007

Husain, Syed Rashid,

“Oil Scene: A Drab Debate Becomes Interesting,” Arab News, April 4, 2008

Junger, Sebastian,

“Blood Oil,” Vanity Fair, February 2007

Karbuz, Sohbet,

“The U.S. military oil consumption,” Energy Bulletin Blog, Feb. 25, 2006

Khalaf,

“Reform is in hands of king,” Financial Times, Dec. 4, 2007

Kelley, Matt,

“Allies fall short on Iraq aid pledges,” USA Today, Jan. 30, 2008

Klare, Michael,

“Blood and Oil: The Dangers and Consequences of America’s Growing Petroleum Dependency,” Metropolitan Books/Henry Holt and Company, 2004

Langan, Fred,

“Newest hot spot for oil production: Canada,” The Christian Science Monitor, May 15, 2006

Maass, Peter,

“The Price of Oil,” The New York Times, Dec. 18, 2005

Margonelli, Lisa,

“5 Myths About Earth-Friendly Energy,” The Washington Post, Feb. 3, 2008

Meyer, Josh,

“Saudi Arabia is prime source of terror funds, U.S. says,” Los Angeles Times, April 2, 2008

Miko, Francis,

“Removing Terrorist Sanctuaries: The 9/11 Commission Recommendations and U.S. Policy,” Congressional Research Service, Report for Congress, Aug. 10, 2004

Morgenson, Gretchen,

“The Peril That Trails an Oil Shock,” The New York Times, Aug. 22, 2004

Moss, Dana, and Zvika Krieger,

“A tipping point in Saudi Arabia: By favoring merchants over clerics, Abdullah is making crucial reforms,” Christian Science Monitor, Aug. 15, 2007

Mouawad, Jad,

“Oil Prices Pass Record Set in ’80s, but Then Recede,” The New York Times, March 3, 2008

Ottaway, David,

“The World After 9/11: U.S. Follows Money Trails of Charities,” The Washington Post, Aug. 19, 2004

Nixon, Rob,

“A Dangerous Appetite for Oil,” The New York Times, Oct. 29, 2001

Payne, Stephen,

“Mexico’s Oil Output Has Peaked, Under Current Limitations,” Oil & Gas Investor, January 2008

Pellerin, Cheryl,

“U.S. Research Targets Hydrogen Fuel Cells, Infrastructure,” U.S. Department of State, USINFO Science Series, April 20, 2005

Peters, Jeremy,

“Economic Growth Slows to Weakest Pace in 4 Years,” The New York Times, April 28, 2007

Preble, Christopher,

“Troops in Saudi Arabia Are Superfluous and Dangerous,” Asia Times, April 25, 2003

Reed, Stanley,

“The New Middle East Oil Bonanza,” Business Week, March 13, 2006

Reuters,

“FACTBOX: Iraq war, five years on, in facts and figures,” April 9, 2008

Reuters,

“FACTBOX: The Strait of Hormuz, Iran and the risk to oil,” March 27, 2007

“The Rise of the Boligarchs,”

The Economist, Aug. 9, 2007

Roberts, Paul,

“The End of Oil: On the Edge of a Perilous New World,” Mariner Books, 2004

Rosenthal, Andrew,

“Bush Sends U.S. Force to Saudi Arabia as Kingdom Agrees to Confront Iraq,” The New York Times, Aug. 8, 1990

"Saudi Arabia faces shortage of employment opportunities,”

MEED: Middle East Business Intelligence, March 16, 2007

Sidoti, Liz,

“Candidates to Press Petraeus on Iraq War,” Associated Press, April 5, 2008

Stewart, Hale,

“Why the U.S.’ Oil Dependence Is Bad for the U.S. Economy,” The Huffington Post, July 3, 2007

Stossel, John,

“We Might Have to Dig Deeper, but Researchers Say There’s Plenty Left,” 20/20, ABC, May 12, 2006

Tamminen, Terry,

“Lives per Gallon: The True Cost of Our Oil Addiction,” Island Press, 2006

Taylor, Edward, and Mike Spector,

“GM, Toyota Doubtful on Fuel Cells’ Mass Use,” The Wall Street Journal, March 5, 2008

Turse, Nick,

“The Military-Petroleum Complex,” Foreign Policy in Focus, March 24, 2008

Union of Concerned Scientists,

“Alternative Fuels: The Truth About Ethanol"

Wald, Matthew,

“Week in Review: War and Cheap Oil: A Second Look,” The New York Times, Jan. 7, 2007

Walsh, Bryan,

“Does Global Warming Compromise National Security?" Time, April 18, 2008

Washington Institute for Near East Policy,

Policy Watch #882, Special Forum Report, Implications of U.S. Dependence on Middle East Oil, Featuring R. James Woolsey, July 7, 2004

Werdigier, Julia,

“Court Orders Freeing of Some Venezuelan Oil Assets,” The New York Times, March 19, 2008

Yetiv, Steve, and Lowell Field,

“Is an oil-induced recession on the way?" The Oakland Tribune, Jan. 13, 2008

Zuckerman, Sam,

“Lenders retreat as housing market plummets,” San Francisco Chronicle, April 6, 2008

More Information

Explore each candidate’s energy plan.

John McCain

http://johnmccain.com/Informing/News/Speeches/d0964a71-079a-4a31-b13f-d0aa7f5732d4.htm

Hillary Clinton

http://www.hillaryclinton.com/issues/energy/

Barack Obama

http://www.barackobama.com/issues/energy/

Image Credits

Soldier photograph on Step 5 image montage

From a DoD photo by Staff Sgt. Jason T. Bailey, U.S. Air Force. (www.army.mil).
See original image on flickr

Stock image source

iStockPhoto.com

Maps

The World Factbook, Central Intelligence Agency

Site Credits

• Researched and written by Kelly Whalen
• Produced and edited by Meghan Laslocky
• Special thanks to Lisa Margonelli, The New America Foundation
• Designed by Rick Elizaga and Eric Westby
• Created by KQED Interactive
• In memory of Sean Fagan