Katie Harris and Zanah Ghalawanji

December 14, 2007

Is Oil Evil?

Is Oil Evil? PT.1 PT.2 PT.3 PT. 4 Sources: Contributors: Katie and Zanah

PT.1

 Questions 1: Is your personal consumption of oil part of the problem? By Zanah

I believe anyone who consumes oil is making the problem more bigger. Everyday the U.S consumes about 26 million barels of oil or just over a billion gallons. If you try to picture this it is equal to about 1600 olympics swimming pools. All of that in one day. Imagine how much oil we could consume in a year! The main reason Bush is going to the middle east is to get more oil. The more oil we consume everyday the more oil Bush will need to take from the middle east. That probably means the U.S soldiers will stay in Iraq even longer. Not only that but the more oil we consume the more we will impact the environment. It is believed that in about 50 years we will completely run out of oil. What will we do then? Obviously if we dont start switching to alternate fuels when the time comes that we run out of oil we will be completely helpless and economies and companies that depend on oil will plumette.

PT.2

 Question 2: What impact does oil have on our enviornment? By Zanah

Oil has very big impacts on our enviroment. One of the impacts oil has is on the oceans. Oil has polluted quite a lot of the ocean weather it is from accidental oil spills or from oily stormwater drainage from cities, farms, or factories. It is estimated that approximately 706 million gallons of waste oil enter the oceanevery year. Over half of it comes from land drainage and waste disposal. When oil is spilled into the ocean it spreads. Waves, water currents, and wind force the oil to drift over large areas impacting open ocean, costal areas, and marine life and habitats. If oil reaches the shore line it interacts with the sediment, rocks, gravel, and sand causing erosion and contamination. Oil waste poisons marine life therefor the food chain is disrupted. Not only are animals that live in the ocean harmed but so are the animals living near the ocean such as birds (seagulls) or crabs,lobsters, etc.

PT.3

Question 3: Are there any viable energy alternatives? By Katie

Oil, or sometimes referred to as “black gold,” is today’s fuel for life. Oil allows us to fuel cars, homes, businesses and to produce many goods like plastic. Unfortunately, oil will eventually run out and as Zanah said above, oil ruins our environment. What’s worse is that no other energy source can solely accomplish what oil does. This means that in the future, we will have to use multiple energy sources. Some types include solar energy, hydroelectric energy, wind energy and geothermal energy. Though Solar Energy doesn’t pollute, solar energy is very expensive and only available for certain regions. Hydroelectric Energy could be a good method, but it takes a lot of space where aquatic animals live and it is also very expensive.  And Wind Energy and Geothermal Energy combined could only contribute a small percent of what oil does alone. I think the most promising viable energy source is tidal power. The source is renewable, and because about 70% of the world is water this source is plentiful. 

To read more about alternative energy sources check out this website:  http://www.cc.utah.edu/~ptt25660/tran.html

PT. 4

 Question 4: Is there a connection between oil and violence in the Middle East? By Katie

There are many connections between oil and violence in the Middle East. One of the more recent connections is the Iraq War. Bush said he started the Iraq War to look for weapons of mass destruction and to finish what Bush Senior started. But even though we have found no weapons, American soldiers are still in Iraq. Many people wonder if it is because Bush wants to get more oil for America.

(This cartoon was made by Steve Greenberg.) 

Because many people believe that America is in Iraq for oil, many people also wonder if our connections with the Middle East are only to get oil. For example: the U.S. and Saudia Arabia have a very good relationship. Saudia Arabia produces the most oil in the world, and the U.S. consumes the most oil in the world. Is there a coincidence? 

Another example is 9/11. At first al-Qaeda defended the series of attacks by saying that the U.S. needed to be knocked off of their pedestal. But later, Osama Bin Laden admited that another one of the motives of 9/11 was because the U.S. was exploiting the Middle East’s resources: oil. Other examples include shifting of wealth caused by wars about oil.

Sources:

1.  "Renewable Energy." Energy Matters. 1998. 6 Dec. 2007 <http://library.thinkquest.org/20331/types/renewable.html>.
2. Greenberg, Steve. "Iraq OIL." Cartoon. Greenberg-Art.Com. 11 Mar. 2003. 10 Dec. 2007 <http://www.greenberg-art.com/.Toons/.Toons%20recent/IraqOIL.html>.
3. Asker, "How much oil does the US consume everyday?." Yahoo answers. 13 Dec 2007. Yahoo. 13 Dec 2007 <http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=AqnMCuhZMLtxv632chRK.yUjzKIX;_ylv=3?qid=20061023201017AAEn8pu>.
4. "oil spills: impact on the ocean." water encyclopedia. 13 Dec 2007. water encyclopedia. 13 Dec 2007 <http://www.waterencyclopedia.com/Oc-Po/Oil-Spills-Impact-on-the-Ocean.html>.

Contributors: Katie and Zanah

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