American Oil Dependency: "Fueling" Concern for Alternative Sources and Government Involvement

With the steady depletion of the fuel that runs American cars, homes, and livelihoods, the need for an alternative energy source from fossil fuels has been the source of much scientific research and political debate. Compared to 1983 when the United States imported 150 million barrels of crude oil per month, American dependency on foreign oil has skyrocketed, importing 350 million barrels per month (Independent).Where “sky-high gasoline prices are still a sharp memory, and politicians of all stripes think we need to end our supposed addiction to oil, alternative energy advocates are casting for something – anything – to use instead of petroleum products” (Schulz). At the forefront of modern technology is the science and research in finding alternative energy sources. This desperate need to fix America’s “powering” problem is evidenced as solar panels are installed on rooftops, windmills dot the hills, cooking oil fuel cars, and nuclear power plants fence deserts. 

In addition to the need to rid American dependence on foreign oil, the push for alternative energy is manifested in environmental concerns. With the exponential increase in carbon dioxide emissions from this fossil fuel burning, environmental consequences cannot be ignored. In 2004, the United States of America was the leading producer of carbon dioxide emissions (Countries). So, regardless of opinions on causes of global warming, America’s carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuel burning is contributing to this greenhouse effect. This, if not taken care of soon, will lead to continued catastrophic implications for climate, wildlife, and agriculture. With so much at risk if inactivity continues, the need to find alternative energy is becoming ever more apparent. And the cure for this inactivity is seen with government involvement. From environmental policies to alternative energy sources, it is to government we look to solve such momentous problems. With in-depth study of the United States’ action, nuclear energy, and biofuel alternatives, America, both politicians and average citizens, can better familiarize themselves with the direction that should be taken to solve America's over“powering” problem. 

Works Cited

“Countries with the largest carbon dioxide emissions from the consumption and flaring of fossil fuels, 2004 and predicted, 2015.” The Environment: A Revolution in Attitudes. Kim Master Evans. 2008 ed. Detroit: Gale, 2012. Information Plus Reference Series. Gale Opposing Viewpoints In Context. Web. 7 Mar. 2012.

Independent Statistics and Analysis: Petroleum and Other Liquids. U.S. Energy Information Administration, 28 Feb 2012. Web. 7 March 2012.

Schulz, Max. “Biodiesel Will Not Significantly Reduce Oil Dependence.”American Spectator Mar. 2009: 38-40. Gale Opposing Viewpoints In Context. Web. 5 Mar. 2012.

Picture Citation -

EcoFriendlyDaily. “Dependence on Foreign Oil”. 29 Apr. 2011. AmpBlogsNetwork. Web. Mar. 9 2012.

Posted by: Jaclyn Nielson

Government Involvement

I consider myself an environmentalist. Not the preachy, self-righteous kind who think buying the right kind of light bulb will save the world. I have selfish motives and realistic hopes. The earth needs to be preserved so that we can use its resources longer. As demand for materials continues to rise, the government needs to become more involved than ever in protecting the earth’s supplies to allow further growth.

Just think: if the government continues to handle all environmental crises like they handled the British Petroleum oil spill in April 2010—doing almost nothing—there will not be many resources left to use! The spill released an estimated 200 million gallons of oil into the Gulf of Mexico. The Executive government made a half-hearted attempt to act, ordering that all fishing stop until the fish and shrimp were checked for toxins. Deep-water drilling was temporarily suspended. After fishing resumed, there was not enough fish left alive and many fishermen lost their jobs and deep-water drilling continues without much of a change ("BP Oil Spill").

Chopping down rainforests to provide hardwood floors, charging for recycling, continuing to use fossil fuels to power everything from lawn mowers to refineries—the list goes on and on. The biggest change people anticipate in going green is how much it's going to cost them. Earth-friendly is expensive! There need to be some laws preventing the greedy use of all these resources, or at least rewards for doing otherwise.

The real problem is that the “use it up now, deal with the consequences later” attitude has been adopted by the American people and the American government. We have lived successfully by this rule for centuries. Even when we all realize that the number of resources we use uninhibitedly is climbing dangerously high, old habits die hard and most people change absolutely nothing. The government needs to take a stand; citizens need to let government know that if we are going to make this change, we expect some action on their part. It’s going to take more than a few light bulbs to get us out of this mess.

Works Cited

"BP Oil Spill." Opposing Viewpoints Online Collection. Gale, Cengage Learning, 2010. Gale Opposing Viewpoints In

Context. Web. 12 Mar. 2012.

U.S. Coast Guard. n.t. Photograph. The New York Times. April 2010. Getty Images. 14 March 2012. <http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/03/us/accord-reached-settling-lawsuit-over-bp-oil-spill.html?_r=1>

Posted by: Sarah Allred 

A More Efficient Way

(Nuclear Energy Institute)

In light of the recent trends toward environmental awareness, alternative energy has been at the forefront of political discussions. The depleting sources of fossil fuels, paired with our economic dependence on the Middle East, have led to the American government searching for other sources of energy. One of these sources is nuclear energy, the most polarizing and controversial type of energy being considered to be able to replace fossil fuels as our main source of energy.

One of the biggest concerns regarding nuclear energy is the volatile nature of uranium, the material converted into energy in nuclear power plants. While there have been incidents in the past such as the explosion at Chernobyl, the changes in protocol have greatly decreased potential dangers. In fact, “it’s [been] proven safer to work at a nuclear power plant than in the finance or real-estate sectors (Moore)”. The waste created by nuclear energy, claimed to be dangerous and difficult to store, is anything but so. A year’s supply of waste can be reshaped into a block about three cubic meters in size and stored away from civilization (Wood).

While technology has come a long way in making nuclear energy much less dangerous, it has made its largest strides in making it more efficient. Resources such as wind and solar energy “require vast amounts of land…and land, after all, is also a limited resource (Tucker)”. Nuclear energy, on the other hand, requires a fraction of the land and a fraction of the cost, as seen in the graph. It also creates energy much more efficiently. With 200 tons of material, it makes the same amount of energy that fossil fuels create with 3 million tons of coal (Wood). Because of its efficiency and recent safety improvements, nuclear energy is one of the better alternative energy sources to replace our dependency on fossil fuels.

Works Cited

Moore, Patrick. "Nuclear Power Is a Clean Energy Source." Nuclear Power. Ed. Lauri S. Friedman. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2010. 11-16. Introducing Issues with Opposing Viewpoints. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 12 Mar. 2012.

Nuclear Energy Institute. “Monthly Fuel Costs to U.S. Utilities.” Power Point Presentation. May 2011.  Accessed 11 March 2012. http://www.nei.org/resourcesandstats/documentlibrary/reliableandaffordableenergy/graphicsandcharts
 /monthlyfuelcosttouselectricutilities/

Wood, Graeme. "Nuclear Waste Can Be Safely Contained." Nuclear Power. Ed. Lauri S. Friedman. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2010. 65-68. Introducing Issues with Opposing Viewpoints. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 12 Mar. 2012.

Tucker, William. "Nuclear Energy Is Better than Renewable Energy." Nuclear Power. Ed. Lauri S. Friedman. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2010. 37-43. Introducing Issues with Opposing Viewpoints. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 12 Mar. 2012.

Posted by Garret Cragun

Biofuels: A “Shallow-Rooted” Alternative for Fossil Fuels

From electric cars to solar panels, efforts to find a different source of power for America come in many forms, one of which can come from your French fries – biodiesel. However, biodiesel is not the answer to American energy problems because it is impractical, takes too much space, and is expensive.

Defined, biodiesel fuels “come from renewable sources” like plants (Al-Zuhair, 57). Biodiesel fuels are appealing to so many because cooking oils can be chemically altered into functional biofuels. However this cannot replace American dependence on fossil fuels. Even if all the oils from McDonald’s restaurants of the entire world were chemically altered to biofuels “it would amount to 75,000 barrels per day” (Schulz). As astounding as this statistic may seem, it accounts for only 0.004% of America’s daily oil use (Schulz). And an increase in biodiesel fuels is not feasible because America lacks land to produce this much fuel. The soybean “yields only about 48 gallons of biodiesel per acre. At that yield, there is not enough land in the United Sates to produce enough biodiesel to significantly change consumption patterns,” (Tabak, 90).

Politicians and scientist argue in favor of biodiesel fuel because of its high energy yield. Research says that there is “three times as much energy obtained by burning biodiesel as is used in producing it” (Tabak,85). This increased energy yield comes with increased price. A company, Earth Biofuels, “found itself paying more to produce a gallon of biodiesel than it was earning by selling it” (Schulz). Unless there is a decrease in the amount of money it takes to produce a gallon of biodiesel fuels, it will not be a sustainable alternative regardless of its energy yield. 

Likewise, having a biodiesel fueled country would have unintended effects on the economy. With the use of corn, soybeans, and other plants as the source that fuels the country, this would yield an increased price for such grains (Tabak,98). With an increase in price of grains, there would be an increase in the cost of living, adding further complications for poverty and world hunger (Alternative). There are alternatives to America’s fossil fuel dependency, but biodiesel fuels is not the one.

Works Cited

Al-Zuhair, Sulalman. “Production of biodiesel: possibilities and challenges.” Biofuels, Bioproducts, and Biorefining 1.1 (2007): 57-66. Wiley Online Library. Web. 5 Mar. 2012.

Are Biofuels a Viable Alternative to Fossil Fuels?. Alternative Energy, 2008. Web. 5 Mar. 2012.

Schulz, Max. “Biodiesel Will Not Significantly Reduce Oil Dependence.”American Spectator Mar. 2009: 38-40. Gale Opposing Viewpoints In Context. Web. 5 Mar. 2012.

Tabak, John. Biofuels. New York: Facts On File, 2009. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 5 Mar. 2012.

Picture Citation -

Carlson, Stuart. “Biofuel or food?”. Cartoon. “News: UN calls impact of biofuel on food crisis criminal”. Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. 2008. Web. 9 Mar. 2012.

Posted by: Jaclyn Nielson

A Word of Caution

We live in a world pushing its hardest for green energy. Children grow up watching apocalyptic films like Ferngully and Wall-e that teach them material possessions should be sacrificed if their production causes harm to the environment. Oil and coal companies are painted as soulless, destructive machines that common men should join together to overthrow. While truth lies at the root of this propaganda, green energy activists must carefully consider that those who push the hardest sometimes end up hurting others.

Most things require balance to function properly, and pushing too quickly for change comes with consequences. Green energy solves problems with pollution, dependence on foreign countries, and political conflict, but the change cannot safely be made overnight. According to the New York Times, solar thermal energy,even in the newest and most effective plants that are being designed, is three times more expensive than coal and two times more than natural gas. Any up grade to alternative energy ultimately leads to a higher electricity bill. In a country plagued by national recession, these choices grow less and less popular in the general public, at least for the time being. However, politicians still spend exorbitant amounts of taxpayer money on renewable energy development while simultaneously discouraging support to coal and oil companies.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics purports that in the next 7 years employment in all oil-related fields is to drop by 14 percent. They state, “environmental concerns, accompanied by strict regulation and limited access to protected Federal lands, also continue to have a major impact on this industry. Restrictions on drilling in environmentally sensitive areas and other environmental constraints should continue to limit exploration and development,both onshore and offshore.”

The world is far from being independent of oil and coal energy, even if funds were available to make the transition to alternative energy, because it is needed in many different facets of modern technology. We’re slowly going green, but it’s important to remember not to extinguish our lifeline before we are ready. If we do, we may save the environment, but we will destroy ourselves.

Works Cited

"In Bailout Plan, Senate Binds House With Non-RenewableEnergy Credits, Too." Green Blog. New York Times. Web. 11 Mar.2012.<http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/10/02/in-bailout-plan-senate-binds-house-with-non-renewable-energy-credits-too/>.

"Kirupa.com - "Me as Environmental and Peace Activist" by JUNASIKPARK." Kirupa.com. Web. 12 Mar. 2012. <http://www.kirupa.com/contests/drawyourself/e2.htm>.

Wald, Matthew L. "Cost Works Against Alternative andRenewable Energy Sources in Time of Recession." New York Times, 29 Mar.2009. Web. 10 Mar. 2012. <Cost Works Against Alternative and RenewableEnergy Sources in Time of Recession>.


Posted by: Mandi Diaz