Chile and US in the Face of an Energetic Challenge

For Chile and the United States, energy is an Achilles’ heel. However, there is a huge difference in the way in which each country faces the challenge. In Chile, a prevailing nebula regarding state policies is ultimately the key to getting cheap, clean and safe energy.

Conversely, the United States has taken the bull by the horns. Hillary Clinton, the Secretary of State, delivered a speech on October 18 about the major importance of energy impact in international relations. She pointed out that energy is in the nucleus of strategic consideration: “… energy is an issue of wealth and power, which means it can be both a source of conflict and cooperation.”

Clinton warned that, in that respect, the Chilean government should pay attention to the fact that “… energy monopolies create risks. Anywhere in the world, when one nation is overly dependent on another for its energy, that can jeopardize its political and economic independence. It can make a country vulnerable to threats and coercion.”

The Secretary of State took advantage of recent examples, reminding her compatriots of the current government’s achievements: “Our use of renewable wind and solar power has doubled in the past four years. Our oil and natural gas production is surging.” Recent figures show that the United States has reduced their petroleum imports from 60 to 40 percent of their domestic demand. This is largely due to the abundance of gas and the effects of the recession.

Yet if the country is able to maintain this tendency, it will reach a goal that various governments cannot achieve. Clinton also underlined the importance of efficiency and savings, making additional statements about new demands regarding the performance of automobiles, which now apply for all heavy vehicles as well.

The need for an international debate in every country on the future of energy is urgent. Of course, a vital goal for the future of the nations’ sovereignty could not lack a military dimension: “That’s why NATO has identified energy security as a key security issue of our time.” In relation to Latin America, she pointed out that “[Connecting the Americas 2022, a new energy initiative] aims to achieve universal access to electricity by the year 2022 through electrical interconnection in the hemisphere […] by expanding the size of power markets, we can create economies of scale, attract more private investment, lower capital costs and ultimately lower the costs for the consumer,” said Clinton.

The Department of State says that since about a year ago, the Bureau of Energy Resources has been dedicated to studying the gravitation of energy in international relations.

Recently, Chile’s previous government created a Ministry of Energy. Before, the topic was handled by the fragile National Commission of Energy, which was dependent on the mining portfolio. Today, the great desire of those in power is to secure the supply of corresponding resources. Yet without a state strategy like the one, for example, that Washington has declared, the country will maintain its dangerous dependency on external sources, not succeed in lowering energy prices and increase the carbonation of the matrix.