The
prices of
oil are at the highest they have ever been. Despite the recent decrease in oil prices, some still speculate prices will begin to increase once again. These instable prices can be blamed on a variety of issues; but the most obvious causes are the recent war in Iraq, along with hurricanes hitting the U.S. coast. Whatever the reason may be it is clear that the United States has felt a major impact on the prices of oil and furthermore have become way too dependent on this
natural resource.
Oil in the United States can be compared to the foundation of a building. If the foundation descends the entire building which rests on these concrete walls will descend too. Oil is one of the concrete foundations to the United States. The U.S.A. consumes about 25
percent of the world’s oil. To put this into prospective that is a quarter of the world’s oil being consumed by a country which only makes up 5 percent of the world’s population. While the U.S. consumes a quarter of the world’s oil it is only producing 7 percent of the world’s oil supply. For this reason, 60 percent of U.S. oil is imported from other
countries. The United States has good relations with many of these importers. At the same time U.S. relations are not so great with some third world country importers, such as Saudi Arabia and Iraq. The U.S. is so dependent on imported oil, if these countries cut off our supply we would suffer greatly even if our allies continued importing. For this reason it is imperative for the U.S. to maintain a stable relationship with these countries. Going to war with Iraq and acting as a controlling factor in the world is not the answer. Over the next decade it is inevitable that the United States will be faced with enemies who we depend on for our oil. This is because we are looked upon by other countries as the bully of the world. We do what we need to do and since we are so powerful we have no problem doing so. Terrorism is one way these countries have expressed their anger. Terrorism is a truly evil act, but the real fear will be when these countries cut off our oil supply. For now this may be far fetched, but in the next twenty years times may become desperate. These potentially desperate times can and will call for desperate measures. The U.S. does depend on foreign countries for most of its oil, but still 40 percent of the oil is produced in the U.S.
States like Texas, located on the southern coast, are accountable for large portions of that 40 percent of oil produced in the U.S. Texas, much like Louisiana which is another oil producing state, are located in a region of the U.S. very susceptible to natural
disasters. The U.S. must keep in mind that while foreign countries can be a threat to oil supply, so can natural disasters within our own country. Hurricanes much like Katrina will continue to threaten the oil production in the U.S. Hurricane Katrina left 8 oil refineries out of order. This forced President Bush to tap into the emergency oil reserve, in hopes to stabilize the prices of oil. This is another huge problem which the U.S. Supreme Court must address. Experts predict that natural disasters will continually worsen, bringing in stronger storms, more frequently. One hurricane like Katrina set gas prices off to record highs. That is only one of the many natural disasters which will hit the U.S. over the next 20 years. This is another very complex issue and the
solution to this problem is not a simple fix.
Time is not on the side of the U.S. and a solution must be developed quickly and efficiently. Wars in foreign countries continue to hurt our relationships with oil importers and at the same time natural disasters have and will continue to cause shortages of oil produced in the U.S. If we will not change the way we operate our country, we must find an alternate method to create energy. One possible answer can be the use of fission and fusion in replace of natural resources such as petroleum. This has been successful wwithin power plants, but a creation of a smaller system which can be used in cars would be very difficult. On top of the difficulty creating this the United States would have to re-construct the machinery to adapt to this new method. Another solution could be an alternative fuel. There has been on-going research, regarding the possibilities of gas made from garbage or from other renewable sources. Other fuels would eliminate our heavy dependence on oil producing countries. A final solution may be more practical and even more appropriate as the U.S. is headed towards a technological future. Battery and solar powered machinery may be the fix to this problem. This raw idea may not seem to be the best option, but just like any other solutions if done right it can work. The answer to this oil crisis must be found quickly and put into action. The only way a solution would work is with the cooperation of the U.S. population. This all begins with the Supreme Court; they must address this situation and find a solution to our oil problems.
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