America the beautiful, land of the greed and the home of oil. Along with being a major superpower comes an insurmountable thirst for fossil fuels. Imperialist ideals and the corporate oil empire can bring stability and jobs but heavy costs also arise. Numerous solutions have been tried, but without fixing the underlying problem more issues are inevitable. Our over-consumption has an incredible effect on our reliance on foreign oil. OPEC, the Organization of the Oil Producing Countries, has supplied Americans with a constant flow of both oil and jobs. Nevertheless, progression comes with high cost to our environment, in addition to pulling us into international involvements. Increasing the United States’ domestic oil production was just a safety net solution, when the real issue is our consumption problem. The removal of huge profits from war could help eliminate future entanglement abroad. Although indirect control over foreign petroleum supplies seems to bring economic stability to the oil hungry United States, the unnecessary international involvement and costs to do so could be avoided by stopping the greedy war machine and turning our focus to domestic renewable energy. Number one of one hundred ninety six countries. The United States tops the list of most oil consumption with our outrageous addiction to fossil fuels. With demand comes price, but there is a silver lining to the nearly $4.00 per gallon cost. The ‘Ecologist’ shares “Above all, cheaper oil would ease concerns about inflation, and so reduce the need for central bankers to increase interest rates. ("The heat is off; Oil.")” Petroleum is everywhere; consumer or commercial, products or fuel. Its the blood of America and has a powerful effect on all commerce. Infla... ... middle of paper ... ...s in the realm of global energy politics." The Middle East Nov. 2013: 32+. Student Edition. Web. 3 Mar. 2014. Cox, Michael. "Fighting for freedom: promoting democracy the American way."Harvard International Review 34.4 (2013): 36+. Student Edition. Web. 3 Mar. 2014. "The heat is off; Oil." The Economist 30 Sept. 2006: 82(US). Student Edition. Web. 25 Mar. 2014. "Just war for oil?" America 21 Oct. 2013: 4. Student Edition. Web. 3 Mar. 2014. Kendall, Clare. "Crude justice." Geographical June 2011: 46+. Student Edition. Web. 3 Mar. 2014. Skov Arlie M. "Fuel-use reduction strategies." Issues in Science and Technology28.3 (2012): 12+. Student Edition. Web. 25 Mar. 2014. Nikiforuk, Andrew. "The petroleonic wars: why the battle over pipelines could become our energy Waterloo. Bring on the coalitions." Alternatives Journal 39.5 (2013): 43. Student Edition. Web. 3 Mar. 2014.
Michael Klare's Blood and Oil Michael Klare has written an interesting and very relevant book, dealing as it does with the politics of oil, US foreign policy, the Middle East, and the causes of terrorism. He writes with a clear purpose and that is to argue that America's "securitization" of oil and its willingness to use military force in order to secure its supplies of oil have been a major mistake. His main argument is that ever since the meeting on the Suez Canal in February 1945 between Ibn Saud, King of Saudi Arabia, and President Roosevelt, that America has supported despotic regimes in the Middle East in exchange for guarantees of oil supply, and that this is a deal, which undermines American commitment to and support for democracy and freedom. Furthermore, Klare believes that unless American policies change dramatically, there is likely to be an increase in conflict over oil, as countries such as China, which is dependent on imported oil (like the U.S.), attempt to secure their own oil supplies. Oil is a finite resource, which will be in increasingly short supply over the next few years, and production may now be near its "peak." In short, he believes that America must act now to move to a post-oil economy, taking exceptional measures to reduce the use of petroleum by motor vehicles and to introduce alternative fuels. ...
Arguments: America is dependent on other nations for their ability to create energy. The United States is the world’s largest consumer of oil, at 18.49 million barrels of oil per day. And it will continue to be that way for the foreseeable future, considering the next largest customer of oil only consumes about 60% of what the U.S. does. This makes the U.S. vulnerable to any instability that may arise in the energy industry. In 2011, the world’s top three oil companies were Saudi Aramco (12%), National Iranian Oil Company (5%), and China National Petroleum Corp (4%).
Foner, Eric. "Chapter 9." Give Me Liberty!: An American History. Brief Third ed. Vol. One. New York: W.W. Norton, 2012. N. pag. Print.
2012 “Has oil wealth been a blessing or a curse for the Middle East?”. Akerue.net. Ben West. Web. 27
Bloodshed has erupted in countries such as Yemen and Iraq over the distribution and domination of petroleum. Yemen recently acquired airstrikes from Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia is currently vexing Yemen into imparting complete authority to their country. Similarly, Iraq is receiving national strife due to the petroleum market. Inhabitants are arduously rejecting ISIS’ appeal to regulating the petroleum circulation in the state. Due to this appeal citizens and ISIS are heavily disputing over this instrumental control of the substance. The United States recently bickered about the Keystone Pipeline; this pipeline bridges Western Canada gravitating down to Southern Texas. This pipeline would grant the United States to become self-sufficient in petroleum manufacturing. Yet, environmentalists’ jilted the bill do to the numerous environmental and social dilemmas would persist from the eradication of the southern section of the United States. Basically, as petroleum dwindles, hostility and warfare will ultimately ensue across the
The dependency on fossil fuels is a pressing issue for not only America, but the whole world. People everywhere continue to search for solutions to the growing problem by taking steps to create a cleaner environment, reduce the price of fuel consumers pay and most importantly, protect the nation’s security from foreigners. America, being one of the leading consuming nations of fossil fuels, is negatively affecting the environmental, economic and political aspects pertaining to its dependency on non-renewable resources.
Maynes, Charles. "The Middle East in the Twenty-First Century." Middle East Journal 52.1 (1998): 9-16. JSTOR. Web. 6 June 2011.
Fossil fuels have been proven to be damaging to our environment, economy and has made the United States vulnerable to dangerous and unstable countries by exporting the resources that they have. The U.S. depends on countries like Sadie Arabia for our oil supplies. How would we be affected if Sadie Arabia refused to sell us their oil? Would our oil reserves run out or would we be able to buy from another country? These are scenarios that we need to be concerned about. According to Rebecca Lefton and Daniel J. Weiss in their article “Oil Dependence Is a Dangerous Habit”, the U.S. has increased import of oil in the recent years, creating a bigger deficit in the United States. Our countries deficit has resulted in nationwide budget cuts. The continuation of oil imports with foreign countries is going to create an even larger debt in America. In 2008 our country spent around $150 Billion on oil imports alone (Lefton, R. & Weiss, D.J. (2014) Oil Dependence Is a Dangerous Habit. Retrieved from http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/green/report/2010/01/13/7200/oil-dependence-is-a-dangerous-habit/). Environmentally, the burning of fossil fuels have led to global warming. As most of us know, global warming can cause changes in our clim...
Ross M. Does Oil Hinder Democracy? // World Politics. 2001. Vol. 53, No 3. P. 325—361.
Did you know that oil may no longer be available by 2050? This is due to over consumption over hundreds of years. How much oil do you think you use in a year’s time? The average American household uses 3-4 gallons of oil a day, that’s 1,277 gallons of oil a year! The long term effects of using natural resources are global warming, polluted water ways and also the depletion of oil.
Significance: The United States must face the fact that the world is running out of oil and with today’s rising oil prices, economic and political instability in regions where the United States gets the majority of its oil, this country must begin looking into alternative means of energy to replace oil and end our dependence on foreign powers.
Interlandi, Jeneen. "THE NEW OIL." Ebscohost.com. Newsweek Vol. 156 Issue 16, P40-46. 7p. 4, 18 Oct. 2010. Web. 2 Mar. 2014.
For years, United States citizens have been using natural gases and oils to power their cars. While doing so we have also been polluting our environment, making ourselves dependant on other regions of the world, and depleting our oil reserves. Rory Sporrows of “Geographical” wrote, “The car is responsible for combusting eight million barrels of oil every day, contributing to nearly a quarter of total global greenhouse emissions and causing major increases in bronchial diseases like asthma and emphysema.” (2001) Oil is not a renewable resource. One day it will run out. The graph to the left depicts that in these times in which we should be conserving what we have; we are doing exactly the opposite. Although the United States makes up only five percent of the worlds population, it consumes more than twenty-six percent of the world’s oil. And if we let our situation get to the point that we run out of oil, our average internal combustion, gasoline engines will no longer work. We will be forced to turn to alternative means of power.
Usborne, David. "Fracking Is Turning the US into a Bigger Oil Producer than Saudi Arabia." Foreign Oil Dependence, edited by Noah Berlatsky, Greenhaven Press, 2016. At Issue. Opposing Viewpoints in Context, db14.linccweb.org/login?url=http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/EJ3010319250/OVIC?u=lincclin_lscc&xid=607a6c63. Accessed 23 Oct. 2017. Originally published in Independent, 11 Mar.
In addition to, a huge issue with non-renewable energy is the fact that we get most of it from foreign countries. According to a recent study done by Energy Information Administration, “58% of our petroleum comes from outside the country”, this means as some speculate, that o...