ABSTRACT
Many of the primary economic and social effects of higher oil prices are likely to be experienced in the vast car dependent suburban zones of the US and Australia. Therefore, national energy security policy in both countries should recognize urban oil vulnerability and adopt an appropriate national security perspective. Conversely, national and state policy should recognize emerging local government policy development on petroleum security issues sprouting at the ground level of major conurbations. Despite ongoing structural changes in the international energy context, national and local policies have often been conservative on energy questions, with local government the main site of policy progress.
