Is Oil Evil? 

Is your personal consumption of oil part of the problem?

Yes, mwa ha ha ha, I am destroying the world!!!!! Wait, that’s a bad thing. I do use oil from the first moment I wake up. There is plastic in the hairbrush that I comb my glorious locks with, in the plastic plate that I eat my wonderful waffles on, and burning in the car that I make my merry way to school in.           (jk about the ‘merry’ part. I think comatose is a better description). Because there are oil byproducts in nearly all plastics, and in all kinds of other things that the average comsumer does not really want to think about. But anyway, I use oil, or products of oil all of the time. I am a regular world wrecking machine. I push up the demand, and thus the price, and thus the violence that stems from the need/want to control oil money. I do recycle, and I try to turn off the light when I leave the room, but I cannot go crawl in a hole and live without plastic or electricity. I am addicted to my happy little modern thingamabobs, and unfortunately even the slow destruction of our wonderful world is not going to change that. Sad, isn’t it?

CS

Of course. I mean what do you expect we're Americans we make it so everything we consume ends up being a problem. jk..............kind of. The U.S. uses about 26% of the world's oil. Think about it we make up only 5% of the world's population but we use 26% of the world's oil. It just shows how desperatly we need oil. Our lives practicaly revolve around oil. That makes the demand on oil greater than the supply so people are willing to do and pay more and more. Oil isn't the only part of he problem. Our reliance on foreign oil is also contributing to the problem. Oil is our drug and we need to go to rehab.

Felicity Risca

What impact does oil have on our environment?

Oil oil everywhere!  Look at the oil spills in Prince William sound, almost two decades ago. 11 million gallons of oil, all over more than 1,000 miles of Alaska. They are still cleaning it up, and tons of poor little fluffy/feathery critters are still dying. I call that an impact. Also, there is the whole Al Gore Inconvinient truth. And it is inconvinient, because people don't want to admit they have a problem. Polar Bears are falling through the ice and little penguins have to move to Argentina/Chile to find some land. I watched those National Geographic “Planet Earth” specials, and they really put the imact into perspective for me. They showed falling ice shelfs, thin ice,and some very sad looking penguins. Anyway, the oil thing is really hitting the Earth hard, so turn off the light, recycle, and get paper, not plastic!!!!!!!!

CS

Oil has a very large impact on our envirnment. Oil is a main cause of Global Warming and Global Warming is causing the temperatures to rise even in the polar regions. As a result the ice that makes up the land in the northern polar regions to melt. Slowly the land is melting away. Many Polar bears have died because they  have become stranded on small icebergs that have broken of from the main land mass. On the small chunks of ice their is no way for them to catch food because there are no breathing holes were the seals have to come up for air so the polar bears die of starvation. Another cause of death is drowning. Occasionaly the polar bears try to swim to a larger iceberg but don't find one. They would get tired and not have the energy to keep swimming so they drown. In a couple of years time the only places you will see a polar bear will be in a zoo, movie or taxidermest. Other animals such as Penquins are also dying because of oil spills. Heartbreaking isn'tit......... Well unless you don't like penquins.

Felicity Risca

Are there any viable energy alternatives?

Yes, of course there are other energy alternatives. Hurrah for hydro cars. You know the commercial for them on TV, some guys shooting at each other, and throwing grenades, except everything has turned into water. The theme is “What if we could replace something harmful with water?”. The only problem with introducing new ideas like that is that people have to start makeing refill stations for them,a nd that costs alot in investments. Yay for renewable energy. Also there is the wind, which is awesome and I personally find the wind turbines very pretty. However, some people don’t think so. Like the people of Chautauqua County, New York. There was a bill to build some turbines, but they rejected the plan because of the ‘ Damage to the Landscape’ yeah right, it’s all hills anyway, so you can't see very far, plus now they are killing the air with their stupid fossil fuel ways. They also are wailing about the disruption it might cause to bird migrations. This is a problem, but the birds have adapted to far more drastic things. Have you ever heard of the storms comeing off Lake Erie? If a bird is determined enought to brave that, a couple spinning white things is not going to stop them. Besides, one turbine can generate enough power to fuel an entire town on a good windy day, saving untold amouunts of fossil fuels and pollution. Then there is solar energy, which is also high on my awesome list. So yeah, there are plenty of other options, but we are just too set in our old ways to try them.

 CS

We already have the technology to develope solar energy and the U.S. can get all of the energy that it needs from solar panels in the desert regions of the Southwest for less than the cost of importing oil. Solar energy would be a great idea because it is cheap, you can use it again and again without it becoming scarce and you could have complete control over it. No one would start wars because one country has more sun than others. It's not like their are going to yell "you're stealing my sunlight" sunlught is everywhere...... well except for alaska in the winter but they can save up all the energy the got from the summer and use that. Soalr energy is pretty safe too. Sthe worst that could happen would be that you got burned. Also the electricity created from the solar energy could make hydrogen gas by electrolysis of water(The Coming Oil Crisis, Jim Pinto). They could use that to fuel hedrogen powered cars. Everything fits together smoothly so I cna't figure out why the U.S. hasn't thought of that yet....... Oh ya we had Bush as president for 2 terms. I think that Solar energy is the fuel of the future.

Felicity Risca

Is there a connection between oil and violence in the middle east?

Duh there is, why do you think we’re in Iraq still for goodness sake? Well, besides the whole peacemaking thing, and trying to get together a government for a people who all hate each other (This is important too), we are there so that we can control the oil and the money that comes with it. The whole peace keeping thing is improving, but splits are forming where there weren't before, like between pro and anti American Sunnis. Part of the conflict is still oil. People are greedy, and that is a fact. When there is gold involved, the fairy tales always end in either the holder of the gold dead, or the hero tricking them to steal it. It is the same with the black gold in the Middle East. There are conflicts about religion, but they also center on money and power, both of which come with oil. Several organized crime rings have evolved around oil, as have booming blackmarket and smuggleing industries. So of course the conflict has some things to do with oil, people want the money, the power, the influence over the western countries that comes with it.

 CS

Hhhhhhhmmmmmmmm....... Let me think about that.........DUH!!!!! Of course there is a connection between oil and violence in the Middle East. If you haven't noticed that by now you're either in never some weird case of denial that I've never heard of before or you're willing to vote George W. Bush into office for a third term. I'm hoping for the former of the two because your willing to sit through another term with Bush as president you better be ready for "Dr.Strangelove" to be a documentary instead of a comedy! Anyways many wars have b een started in oil-rich countries over oil. The countries that found oil on their lands became rich very quickly and gain many allies who want the oil at any cost. On the flip side they also gain new enemies that want to have their power and wealth that they gained from finding oil. But nothing's ever perfect. Civil wars also began to imerge in oil rich countries because of a diffirence in views(or allies). Larger countries usualy end up helping the sided that promises them the most oil nomatter what their views. Oil I think, is about the fastest way to desrtoy a country from the inside.(or of course you can make Bush their president).

Felicity Risca

Sources:

1.   The Middle East Quarterly. Oct. 2006. The Middle East Forum. 16 Dec. 2007. http://www.meforum.org/article/1020

 2. Marine Environment Protection . 13 Jan. 2003. Australian Maritime Safety Authority. 17 Dec. 2007.

        http://www.amsa.gov.au/marine_environment_protection/educational_resources_and_information/teachers/the_effects_of_oil_on_wildlife.asp

Contributers:

Colleen Schuldeis

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