North American energy independence

North American energy independence is a goal of many advocates of enhanced North American economic and physical security seeking primarily to reduce U.S. reliance on (what is to Americans) foreign oil, without increasing fuel taxes. This is seen to have various benefits, including:

• Oil extraction resource development of countries friendly to the U.S., i.e. Canada and Mexico
• Limiting oil imperialism to the North American Free Trade Area, reducing exposure to terrorism abroad.
• Lower balance of trade and foreign exchange stresses on the U.S. economy especially as more suppliers price oil in Euros.
• Development of renewable energy sources to displace fossil fuels.
• Promoting energy conservation and technology (insulation, green roof, efficient lighting) exportable to energy-poor nations.
• Ability to ignore the Kyoto protocol, accepted by the rest of the world, and the consequences of global climate change, which in North America are not expected to be extreme, except perhaps politically. The US has few problems with the Pacific island nations and Bangladesh sinking beneath the waves.

Similar policies of energy independence were also pursued by the fascist regimes in Italy and Germany in the 1920s and 1930s.