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Published Apr 4 2006 by US Senate Committe on Foreign Relations, Archived Apr 12 2006

Secty of State: "We have to do something about the energy problem"

by Condoleeza Rice

... We do have to do something about the energy problem. I can tell you that nothing has really taken me aback more as secretary of State than the way that the politics of energy is -- I will use the word warping -- diplomacy around the world. It has given extraordinary power to some states that are using that power in not very good ways for the international system, states that would otherwise have very little power. It is sending some states that are growing very rapidly in an all-out search for energy -- states like China, states like India -- that is really sending them into parts of the world where they've not been seen before, and challenging, I think, for our diplomacy. It is, of course, an energy supply that is still heavily dependent on hydrocarbons, which makes more difficult our desire to have growth, environmental protection and reliable energy supply all in a package.

... on the energy side, we have simply got to do something about the warping now of diplomatic effort by the all-out rush for energy supply.

Editorial Notes

The statements apparently were made during the question and answer session following Secretary of State Rice's April 5 testimony on U.S.-India Atomic Energy Cooperation before the Committee on Foreign Relations of the U.S. Senate.

The prepared testimony (PDF) is available online, as is a video recording of the hearing (click on the title in large font).

The New York Times mentioned the remarks in its coverage of the hearing (Rice Urges Congress on Deal With India):

Ms. Rice argued that the Senate needed to approve the deal President Bush signed with India to keep that country aligned with the United States in what she called "an all-out rush for energy supplies" by rapidly developing nations.

"Nothing has taken me more aback as secretary of state than the way energy is — I will use the word warping — international diplomacy," she said.

Ms. Rice described a world in which limited supplies of energy and competing demands from countries like India and China are giving countries that supply oil and natural gas undue influence, and called the agreement crucial to developing a "strategic partnership" between the United States and India.

-BA

Original article available here