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Remarks and Official Statements - 2009
Ambassador’s Remarks at the Opening of Energy Online Portal
(as delivered)
Bulgaria Restaurant
June 16, 2009
Thank you, Mr. Hinovsky for the wonderful introduction and thanks to all of you who are joining us here today. I am delighted to be with you today and I am particularly delighted that the United States government was able to help make this important project a reality.
As you know the focus of this project is energy. Unfortunately, energy is all too often a subject that is shrouded in secrecy and that is obscured by unnecessary complexity. I feel very strongly that we have an urgent need to change that. We have to change that because energy lies at the core of national sovereignty and security and because energy creates the very basis, the very framework for the social wellbeing across this country and across the world.
This project is so exciting because it allows us to start that process of change. This project will start the process of lifting that veil of secrecy and of eliminating that complexity that obscures the very simple truths that lie at the heart of this issue. It is our hope that this project will foster and drive debate of very controversial issues. And it is very much our hope that this project will position average citizens, not just experts, but average citizens across this country to question and at times to challenge the decisions that are made that affect their lives and affect the wellbeing of this country.
We hope that this project will advance public awareness, that it will create a sense public ownership, and that it will advance the public good. But it will only succeed if it is used to maximum effectiveness. And that means that we need the journalists and media to advertise it. We need the experts to analyze the issues and present them in the forum a way that is understandable. And we need civil society and individual citizens use the forum to demand greater transparency, greater competition, and greater diversity across the board on energy issues. This forum is essentially a tool. The challenge now is to make sure that we use this tool to advance the goals of industry, and society, and government in a way that serves the public good. There is clearly a great need for this and I believe this is clearly the right time to get started. So, let’s work together and make it happen, and make it happen in the right way.
Thank you very much.