Fossil Fuels Essay

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.

Reliance on major non-renewable resources has had, and continues to have detrimental effects on the environment. These resources found in the earth are mined and drilled so that people around the world can benefit from their use. For example, the majority of Americans, and most of the world’s population, uses gasoline to fuel their vehicles in order to commute back and forth from one place to another and gas to heat the homes in which they spend the bulk of their time. With the world’s population consistently growing, the amount of vehicles on the roadways increases therefore causing the amount of fuel being used to increase. The same goes for planes and ships that transport people greater distances, whether it be from Virginia to California, or the United States to China. The carbon emissions released pose a threat to the global climate (“Fossil”). Not only does the emission of fossil fuels hinder earth’s atmosphere, but the availability of the non-renewable resources used daily is also shrinking. Though the United States may not be greatly affected by the environmental dangers, other countries continuously struggle with locating drinkable water, maintaining consistent levels of agricultural produce and...

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... reforms on the imports and production methods. Along with the millions of acres opened for exploration that would increase self-reliance, it would also lessen the United States’ reliance on oil from Africa, the Middle East and those areas affected by conflict (Klare). As previously mentioned, the military is the biggest consumer of energy in the US. If the American military is relying on imported oil from the conflicted areas in which control the price and supply, then the country as a whole is vulnerable to those who are able to control it. The military continues to work on reducing dependency on foreign fuels so that the nation’s security is safer. By also promoting advances in technology that would enhance the United States’ environment and economy, vulnerability to “violence, corruption and authoritarianism” from the companies overseas would decline.