So, you think that gasoline is expensive now; what would you think if the fuel tax was increased enough to support our ongoing defense of countries in the oil region producing of the Persian Gulf? If the billions of dollars spent to maintain our naval presence in the Middle East were totaled up and divided among each gallon of gasoline pumped into our cars and trucks the increase in fuel prices would be steep and permanent.
Our country entered into a conflict in Libya on Friday. Millions of dollars worth of missiles were launched into that country in a effort to prevent a massacre of Libyan rebels and to give them an opportunity to fight on equal terms with the Libyan controlled army of Colonel Muammar Gaddafi. Although Libya controls a much smaller amount of oil than other Persian Gulf nations it is still an important source for our European allies. Every drop of oil pumped from the ground in Libya will add to the world’s current available oil supplies and ease the current round of fuel price increases.
Probably the most important book that I have read for very long time is Blood and Oil: by Michael T. Klare. He is also the author of Resource Wars.
I read a lot of books about current affairs; I believe that Blood and Oil is one of the best. The security issue surrounding oil has mostly been overlooked by the press and the broadcast media. Ignoring the issue will no longerbbe a choice as worldwide oil resources are depleted. The simple fact is that protecting oil will be one of the most important issues that the world will ever face. We must begin to wean ourselves from oil dependency and to work toward building renewable energy infrastructure, fuel efficient vehicles, and mass transit systems that will be powered by renewable energy, electricity and hydrogen gas. We will have to develop and use appliances that are more energy efficient and use building materials that conserve energy. To me, Blood and Oil is also a message that we can no longer ignore the realities of a world running low on carbon based fuels. Also, we may be running out of time to limit our production of CO2 or face an ever more hostile environment that will change the very way we live and die.
The Obama administration has dedicated stimulus money for wind and solar panel energy construction. We need more of that type of spending now, the sooner the better. He has also planned for mass transit which cannot come soon enough to reduce our dependence on oil. Until we can reduce our dependence on imports of fossil fuels, we will be in jeopardy of continually sending our young men and women to war to maintain our vital supplies. We must begin now to break our dependency. Cheap fuel is like a drug; this country is hooked on it and cannot break the habit. This whole country needs to go to rehab and be rid of our addiction to oil.
In the mid-term elections, few people mentioned renewables. Roy Blunt of Missouri made it an issue to use against his opponent whose brother is involved in a wind farm company. We need to encourage more energy innovation, not to criticize those who are working toward that end.
For information concerning the cost our military presence in the Persian Gulf, visit the following website.
http://www.icta.org/doc/RPG%20security%20update.pdf
To read about and to understand climate change, you might want to read Boiling Point by Ross Gelbspan
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