manent magnets in the motors of electric vehicles (or
wind turbines) must be considered, along with re-
search into electric vehicle technologies without such
dependencies. Increasing U.S. energy independence is
itself inherently desirable from the perspective that it
reduces the many negatives mentioned: bankrolling
dictators, paying for nuclear proliferation, funding
terrorism, stifling innovation, setting back our ability
to compete, diverting hundreds of billions of dollars
out of the economy each year, and creating vulnerabil-
ity to unpredictable price volatility.
The same post-1973 energy policies and statutes
that resulted in sustained absolute energy indepen-
dence in the electric energy sector, succeeded in re-
achieving strategic energy independence in the early
1980s in the transportation sector. However this result
proved temporary, as the resulting low worldwide
petroleum prices rewetted the public appetite for oil
and lowered the political will to stay the course. Sus-
tainability considerations related to energy indepen-
dence have proven as dependent on such public and
political attitudes as on natural resources or technolo-
gy alternatives. This will likely continue to be the case
with regard to the future roll of nuclear energy and its
ability to impact U.S. energy independence.
Energy Security
Energy security in its basest definition means hav-
ing assured access to the energy resources necessary
to meet demands. Energy security and independence
are sometimes used interchangeably, and though in-
terrelated, are not strictly the same. Energy security
can be greatly enhanced when a nation enjoys abso-
lute or strategic energy independence, though these
situations are generally uncommon. A more recent