Posted by
ngoc8or on Sunday, June 15, 2008 7:16:17 PM
Now that the price of gasoline and transportation is going through the roof, the subject of achieving more energy independence is finally gaining traction in the news and blogs. That’s great. The biggest impediment to establishing a rational energy policy has been the lack of attention over the past several decades. It was just too cheap to bother with.
However, while the outrageous cost of filling up our fuel tanks is a major issue, there is another, far more important reason to work toward independence: National Security.
Think about it. Much of our crude oil comes from counties that hate us. Yet, for decades we have freely handed them a potent weapon as we become more and more dependent on their crude. And now they are using it.
Oil is not a dirty word. It is the lifeblood of our economy. True, it makes our cars run, but I’d bet most people do not realize how much of what they use everyday is also oil related. Besides running planes, trains, and automobiles to distribute everything we use, oil is the base material for many plastics. Is there anything today not made of plastic? Oil is the base material for synthetic clothing, fertilizer, pesticides, synthetic weapons grade material for national defense, industrial materials; the list is almost endless. Who needs a nuclear bomb when you can bring a powerful nation down without firing a shot?
We can see how much power these oil producing countries have on rapidly escalating prices. Our national economy is reeling over it. So what happens if this cabal decides to withhold oil from us altogether? It is easy to do. China and India will certainly buy what we would have bought. How do we grow food, process it, get it to the store, get it to our kitchens? Pretty soon the mantra “no blood for oil” will become “go to war for food”. A radical statement, and an overreaction? Maybe, but certainly not impossible given the radical zealots among our enemies.
A few examples of oil producing states include Saudi Arabia (the 9-11 hijackers), Syria, Yemen, Iran, Libya, Algeria, Indonesia, Russia, Venezuela (their president Hugo Chavez calls our president the devil), Mexico, Ecuador; the list goes on. Given how dependent we all are on oil, why would we allow the leaders of these nations to have such a hold on us?
We need to drill now on U.S. soil.