United States Code, I hereby delegate to the Secretaries of Defense and Energy the reporting functions conferred upon the President by section 1045 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2012 (Public Law 112–81), and by section (a)(9)(B) of the Resolution of Advice and Consent to Ratification of the New START Treaty. Subsection (a)(9)(B)(iv) of the Resolution shall be fulfilled in coordination with the Secretary of State. The Secretary of Defense is authorized and directed to publish this memorandum in the Federal Register.

THE WHITE HOUSE,

Washington, March 16, 2012.

Memorandum of March 22, 2012

Expediting Review of Pipeline Projects From Cushing, Oklahoma, to Port Arthur, Texas, and Other Domestic Pipeline Infrastructure Projects

Memorandum for the Heads of Executive Departments and Agencies

In an economy that relies on oil, rising prices at the pump affect all of us. With crude oil prices controlling about three-quarters of gasoline prices, the most important driver of the price here at home is the world oil price—making our economy vulnerable to events halfway around the globe. There are no quick fixes to this problem. In the long run we need to reduce America’s dependence on oil—which is why my Administration is implementing historic fuel economy standards for cars and trucks, launching new programs to improve energy efficiency in our buildings, and facilitating the safe and responsible development of our natural gas resources.

But for the foreseeable future, we will continue to rely on oil to help fuel our transportation system. As a result, we must safely and responsibly develop our oil resources here at home, as part of an all-of-the-above energy strategy to grow our economy and make us more secure.

Because of rising oil production, more efficient cars and trucks, and a world-class refining sector that last year was a net exporter of petroleum products for the first time in 60 years, we have cut net imports by a million barrels a day in the last year alone. By reducing our dependence on foreign oil, we will make our Nation more secure and improve our trade balance—creating jobs and supporting domestic industry.

In order to realize these potential benefits, we need an energy infrastructure system that can keep pace with advances in production. To promote American energy sources, we must not only extract oil—we must also be able to transport it to our world-class refineries, and ultimately to consumers. The need for infrastructure is particularly acute right now. Because of advances in drilling technology that allow us to tap new oil deposits, we are producing more oil from unconventional sources—places like the Eagle

367