I will be the first to admit I am a slave to fossil fuels. I drive therefore I must endure that rising cost of gas. Obviously no one enjoys paying more at the gas pumps, I know I certainly don't. But is the answer to this problem more drilling?
It has been suggested that we now re think our stand on future oil wells in Alaska and off shore in the Gulf of Mexico. The reasoning behind this of course is that it will give some relief to the American consumer at the gas pump, But will it really?
I SAY NO! This isn't about jumping on the Al Gore green is clean band wagon. Its about economics and politics. We as a nation have become entirely too dependant on resources that we can only obtain in quantity from other countries. Countries that have governments who for the most part don't care for us as a nation or who's own government is unstable or in constant turmoil. And yet.....here we are continuing to pay the ever rising price to purchase the fuel we need from them. Does this make any sense to anyone?
Yes I admit we do need this fuel to function, but being at the mercy of the current suppliers to fill those needs isn't in our best interests long term. And isn't that what we should be looking at here the long term bigger picture?
Fossil fuels while plentiful in other parts of the world are not so in this country. And this is not a renewable resource...so once its gone its gone for good. The limited supplies still to be found in the United States are not enough to sustain our country's needs long term. And by the time we harvested this fuel, refined it and were actually able to make it available to the public the amount of help it would provide us economically would be extremely minimal at best. Amounting to only a few cents at the gas pumps.
Is a few penny's really worth possible harm to our environment? Again...this isn't about green is clean, tree hugging, kiss the polar bears thinking. But this is the place we live. If we screw it up we don't get a second chance...and where else would we go?
The fact is we want to become more independent as a country, then we need to break our need for fossil fuel. If we want to continue to have a clean living environment, we need to break our need for fossil fuel. If we want to reduce the costs and help our economy WE NEED TO BREAK OUR NEED OF FOSSIL FUELS. Does anyone see a pattern here?
Continued drilling in this country will only amount to providing a small band aid on much bigger issue. And its not even a band aid that will stop the bleeding. We need to look past the immediate wants and needs and look for a more long term solution to this problem.
We as a nation have some of the best minds in the world. We have a society and and a way of life that is rivaled by none. You can not tell me that a country as advanced and as great as this one can not come up with a better plan than that of Oil to fill the energy needs of our people. I'm sorry but I just don't buy it and neither should you.
So what as a voter, as consumer and as citizen of this country can we do about this. To be honest I don't know. It seems that as long as those in power want us to continue with the status quo...there is little we can do but ride it out. But for those who's concerns are more financially motivated and for those reasons alone do not wish to lose their grasp on Oil...I say this: There is money to be made in alternative energy sources for those willing to step outside the box and pioneer it.
As a nation and as a people it makes sense politically and economically to break these ties that bind us. Isn't it time that someone stepped up to the plate and said ENOUGH?
8 comments:
Let me let you in on some insight. OPEC controls the price of oil. They drill because we taught them how to the same way we taught the Japanese how to make cars and cheap plastic things. The U.S. doesn't supply oil to the world like it used to.
Second, Iraq just let us back in to drill, so OPEC is getting back at us for going over kicking a dictators ass and being able to drill and get oil again. That's why they just dropped the price to make the game less lucrative for us.
Now. Here is the solution. This will piss off the OPEC'rs and set the world balance in our favor. My mom came up with this.
Rationing.
The U.S. could ration oil and say, you get enough gas for 2 cars in one week. The price is $X/gallon until the Saudi's bring it down. That's what we'll do. Effectively, since we import more than we can produce this would cause the rag heads to set the price at our level and not theirs.
Knot
Hi!
This makes all of us feel sad. Because the snow caps are water reserves that could be used one day, in the future. Because they regulate our weather.
Or simply because it's a beautifull landscape and we all want to keep seeing penguins sliding on their belies.
Ah. You get it.
The limited supplies still to be found in the United States are not enough to sustain our country's needs long term.
Yup, and more drilling will just deplete them sooner.
We need to break the crack, I mean oil, habit to keep our country clean and also keep our economy going. This is bad for the economy, very bad.
knot
Short term there are several things we could do to easy this problem. But its not a solution. No matter who we choose to blame for the rise in prices. The simple fact is..We do not have enough oil with out depending on others to supply are needs.
And that in my opinion is the issue. We can kiss political butt to make oil deals, we can jiggle enviormental concerns and continue to drill. We can ration and go to war or a hundred other things. But the bottom line is OIL...is a weakness. And as long as we have it we can never truly be independant of the whims of others gobally.
jean-jacques
I will agree the world we live in is important. And I will agree that we need to pay more attention to it for the simple fact is that this is the world we have to live in and survive in. If it goes down the tubes...we have no place else to go.
I personally dont wish to live in a pit...but thats just me. However...the oil issue just envirormental. And we need to see past it to get to the heart of the problem.
zombieslayer
Good analogy....Our countrys addiction to oil is like that of a drug. AND just like with most addicts we cant see the bigger picture. We are so worried about where are next fix at the pump is going to come from..and how much that hit is going to cost us that we are failing to see the bigger picture.
As a nation oil is a dead end street. It wont ever get any better for us economically. Politically our need for it holds us hostage to the nations who supply us. Until we find another solution...the problem will only become worse as time goes on.
I am a tree hugging hippie of "Green is Clean" I do think we need to reduce our fossil fuel technology. But I also think we need to find another solution than the soy/corn based fuels. I saw a picture in Time magazine where Rain forests were all but destroyed to make way for soybean farms because it is currently such a lucrative plant. Sad sad sad.
Blue Raggedy
I wont say that Im in the green is clean group. I do believe we need to be aware of what it takes to keep our planet healthy. For our own sakes.
But I dont think that we will get rid of fossil fuels by using our environment as the reason to do so. I think as a nation we only want to deal with the issues that immediately confront us and hurt us..such as the rising cost of gas. Or the political issues of obtaining that gas.
While there will be a large number of people who think the plight of the polar bear and rain forest are terrible things...they will also go through day to day life with out giving them much of a real thought. Because polar bears and rain forests dont affect them on a day to day basis.
But prevent them from driving....or take to much of their hard earned money...and I can promise you that will get noticed.
So kill the polar bears and nuke the penguins? That's your plan Jenn?
I'm glad you open your eyes on this issue, because it's really bad for someone whose life relies on oil, like yours or mine.
I have been growing corn and tomatoes bare hands! I have been fishing a lot but I know that it is almost impossible, for someone like me to survive without oil.
Now, this is my theory. The barrel prices have been climbing since the first oil crisis in the 70's. To keep the prices low, Bush (the first) and decided to invade the middle east for oil. Then, Bush (the second) decided to invade to acheive his father's plan. Is that rational? Now, american citizen can disagree with this but, as long as Georges W. Bush was elected in a legal procedure...& as long as he is not impeached...he is the big chief......right?
So yeah keep drilling...in Alaska, Nordic sea, Mexico, Venezuela...but consume in a responsable way. As inhabitants of this beautifull world, we should take our individual responsabilities. Reduce our gas consumption, personally. I hope you don't own a truck company and that you don't really want to see the north pole dispear.
You can start going to KFC WALKING from time to time...those are the kind of things I do.
I'll offer my rebutal. Who says we don't have enough oil? We have plenty of oil. We don't use it properly. Our cars run on a system of gasoline developed in the early 1900's. We used to supply the world's oil. Then countries like China and India came along and had population explosions and they use oil almost as much as we do. We aren't the only ones, just the ones with the most money trying to buy it.
We can put a man on the moon, but we can't make a car get 100 mpg? Really? We've lost our edge. And that's the issue. We aren't all we think we are. We're like a boxer who's king of the world and gets soft. We can reduce our consumption or make it go farther, we just don't.
Knot
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