By Maya Jackson Randall
Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- Concerned about high energy costs and
energy security, top executives at airline, chemical, food and shipping
companies are joining retired military leaders in a push for new energy
policy.
The coalition announced Wednesday
includes top executives from FedEx Corp. (FDX), Domino's Pizza Inc.
(DPZ), Goldman Sachs (GS), Southwest Airlines (LUV) and Dow Chemical
Co. (DOW), among others.
Retired Marine Corps Commandant Gen. P.X. Kelley and former Commander-in-chief of the U.S. Pacific Command Admiral Dennis Blair have also signed on as members. "America's dependence on oil makes vulnerable the country's economic and military security and our nation must finally address this fundamental risk," said FedEx Chief Executive Frederick Smith, co-chair of the Energy Security Leadership Council in a statement.
The group believes that extreme dependence on oil is a threat to national security.
Needed reforms have been hampered because corporations outside of the energy industry haven't played a major role in promoting government action, the council said in a statement.
The council is a project of the two-year-old nonpartisan group Securing America's Future Energy.
In coming months, it plans to develop an energy security policy proposal aimed at reducing energy demand, increasing domestic supplies of oil and gas and developing alternatives sources of energy.
High energy prices and concerns about U.S. dependence on Middle East oil have also brought together other unique alliances.
Last year, more than two dozen national security officials from both Republican and Democratic administrations called for new policies to reduce energy use in the U.S.
And earlier this year, CEO group Business Roundtable announced that executives of companies like Pfizer Inc. (PFE) and American Electric Power Co. (AEP) created an energy task force to focus on ways to address energy issues.
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Source: Push for new energy policies