U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said she will appoint a special envoy for energy issues to deal with the issue of using oil and natural-gas for political gains, particularly in Central Asia. Rice's comments to a congressional committee came amid threats from Venezuela to halt oil exports to the United States as well as several incidents in which Russia has stopped or threatened to stop natural-gas supplies to some of its neighbors, most recently Ukraine. “It is a really important part of diplomacy, in fact, I think I would go so far as to say that some of the politics of energy is warping diplomacy in certain parts of the world,” Rice told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. “I do intend to appoint, and we are looking for, a special energy coordinator who could especially spend time on the Central Asian and Caspian region,” Rice told lawmakers. The envoy also would focus on limiting the increasing instability in global energy markets, she said. Rice spoke in response to a question from Senator Richard Lugar (Republican from Indiana), who asked her about progress made on establishing the post that was called for in legislation passed last year.
