It's an ugly truth most people just don't want to admit. We Americans are puppets on a string. We're forced to send our money, our influence and even our children's lives to nations that hate our guts and take turns pulling the strings. Nations like Venezuela, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Syria, Russia and many more. With one meeting between the OPEC nations our economy can go into a panic, with one war in a oil-rich nation our life style becomes precarious. And we do it to ourselves. Like an animal that will eat and eat until it kills itself, we don't seem to know when to stop. Like an addict, we run to the pump for our fix no matter the price and like an addict, it's our addiction that will kill us. This addiction to oil is ruining us, and my friends, it can not go on.When I was quite a bit younger in 1973, I saw all of this play out in a way that should have been a warning to us of times to come. In response to the Yom Kippur War, the OPEC nations announced they would no longer ship oil to nations that support Israel. The United States, along with several European nations and Japan caught the worst of it. Gas prices jumped through the roof and our economy took a serious hit. Later, during the 1979 Energy Crisis, we again got a glimpse of what was to come. Because of unrest in the Middle East we again found ourselves at the mercy of our puppet-masters. Just as we were gearing up to finally take action to end our dependency, the price fell back down again. Just like the addict that we are, there was no problem as long as we got our drug, and just like the addict that we are, we continued to bow to our drug dealers.
The recent rise in gas prices is just another example of the oil rich nations exercising their strength. With the collusion of Oil companies, speculators, politicians and investors, our dealers have become even more powerful than they could have ever imagined 50 years ago. They now have the power to bring us to our knees and quite possibly destroy our economy and our way of life. I can not stress enough how important this issue is. For me personally, it's the only issue. The amount of oil money that we export has now reached $700 billion dollars a year, the largest exchange of wealth in all of the world's history. If it continues it will ruin this country. Our politicians are all feigning outrage while stuffing their pockets with oil money. They pretend to search for solutions, when all they are doing is shifting the profits from Chevron to Exxon. As a reward for their misdeeds we offer them even more subsidies, more access to our land, less regulation and more power. In an effort to secure our supply, we have prostituted ourselves and our land.
In the past year, Americans have begun to wake up to the reality of our problem. People like T. Boone Pickens have taken it upon themselves to try to force our government to act. Researchers everywhere are searching for new answers and a way to self dependence and a cleaner form of fuel that is safer for our environment and our children's future. Fuel cells, Ethanol and hydrogen are all being explored as alternative energy. Wind and Solar power are getting a second look as are new ways of harnessing geothermal energy and even wave energy. We are standing at a crossroads and our choices are clear; continue being an addict or clean up our act and be self-dependent. Unfortunately, like an addict, as soon as we begin to get sick of our situation, as soon as we decide to change our ways, the dealer makes sure to give us what we need, until the next time they want us on our knees. H.C.
4 comments:
i definitely agree we need to break our dependence upon foreign oil specifically and reduce oil use in general. no question about it. i don't want to see ethanol become the main alternative though because that is already causing problems with food prices in the world. there are so many clean ways to derive energy. these really need to be seriously explored, subsidized, and put into practice.
Hi Lime,
Sorry it took me so long to respond. I was on vacation and just got back. As far as ethanol. Check out the possibilities of algae ethanol. It wouldn't take near as much farmland (1 to 2%) and actually consumes carbon dioxide in the process without hurting the food industry. I think this could be a good answer if everything about it is true.
This is a delicate situation; mostly because of the overwhelming dependency many of us have almost been forced to have. People commuting to work (sometimes this is a personal choice; but in other instances, mass transit systems are either inadequate or non-existent), stores closing down - forcing people to travel outside of their areas, etc. all play a role in how much energy people are forced to consume. I can go on and on about how various social factors contribute to the energy crisis, but I think you get the point.
We've got our hands full if we are to ever catch up with some of the world's leaders, but I think it's within reach if our next president (whether it be McCain or Obama) can get the government more involved in the effort. A study in Germany, for instance, found that developing renewable forms of energy helped to create almost 260,000 direct and non-direct jobs in 2006. That number is expected to rise to close to half a million in ten years. Likewise, Spain and Denmark have both also seen industries emerge in the renewable energy sector (especially with wind power). That is directly attribitable to their government's recognition of and support for renewable resources. I'm equally amazed at the progress being made with Brazil and the energy policies they push with sugarcane. But they have a far less stellar record with labor relations and human rights -- damn near to the point of slavery. So their model is not exactly one I think we should follow.
Unless the federal government steps up to the plate (as opposed to leaving this up to individual states to handle), we're going to continue falling behind in the world while leaving this planet in a complete mess for those who come after us.
Hey Dre,
Once again, I couldn't agree more. In fact, as I've said many times, this is the absolute main issue with me in the Presidential election. Even though I've heard McCain say that he's committed to alternative energy, the 22 ex-oil lobbyists on his staff has me more than a little suspicious of his commitment. Whether or not alternative energy actually creates jobs or merely replaces other energy jobs is pretty much a non-issue for me. If you get a chance Andre, look up some of the benefits of algae as a fuel source, I think you'll find it interesting. Federal research dollars could certainly push this along but my biggest fear is that oil will come down, production will increase and we'll be sucked right back into our malaise. In a strange sorta way, maybe it's better in the long run if it stays high thus encouraging research.
Post a Comment