Educators: Earn a free Gold upgrade by joining the PBwiki Back To School Challenge.
Questions? Join PBwiki's weekly office hours today at 1 PM Eastern and get live answers.
Is Oil Evil?
Question#1
Is your personal consumption of oil a part of the problem?
Our personal consumption of oil is apart of the
problem making our country too dependent on oil. Cars,
buses, lawn mowers, they all use up oil. Everyday about
80 million barrels of oil are being used up by the world.
By a majority, the U.S.A. uses up the most oil compared
to any other country in the entire world. This cold fact
proves that even the personal consumption of oil in
America can make a big difference! Every year our
summers grow hotter because the ozone layer keeps
trapping greenhouse gasses and contributes to global
warming. If we would change our main energy source
into something more environmentally friendly our
summers would'nt grow into non-liveable temperatures.
Once the main energy source has been changed the
personal consumption of oil will no longer become a
factor in global warming. On the other hand though
the economy might become unstable and suffer mass
inflation if the conversion of oil is'nt present throught
the world. Thus the world will have to convert back
to oil and the personal consumption of oil will become an
environmental risk towards the planet.
-Scott Masih
Question # 2
What impact doe oil has on our environment?
Oil has a notoriously large effect on our environment through global warming. Global warming is the increase in temperature due to the release of greenhouse gasses such as Carbon Dioxide and methane. But the most common greenhouse gas, Carbon Dioxide is released most commonly through the burning of fossil fuels or oil. Oil is the lead cause of global warming. On average oil, through global warming, solely accounts for the melting of the polar ice caps; almost 34,300 square kilometers per year! Oil also, through global warming, accounts for the ocean rising almost two millimeters per day. These statistics and facts show the tremendous negative effect has on our dying environment.
Question # 3
Are there any viable energy alternatives? Well in my opinion there are
many energy alternatives but there are few that will or might be accepted in our
economy. Such alternatives that would fail would include hydroelectric power,
wind power, geothermal, etc.Those would'nt work together with our economy and
would'nt last very long. The only energy alternatives that would at least have a
fighting chance, be accepted easily in the economy, would include hydrogen and
ethanol. Due to the ever growing epidemic of global warming, oil has become an
energy source we can use in which these alternatives have been made. Also,
new cars have been made to be compatible with hydrogen and ethanol such as
the audi A2H2( hydrogen compatible) and the Chevrolet Monte Carlo(ethanol
compatible). These green cars are both environmentally safe, affordable and
economically smart. To support my example of hydrogen i'll explain why it's so
smart. When hydrogen cars go into effect we'll be able to lessen our dependency
with oil along with importing it from foreign countries. Next, oil prices will
decrease which will then lower the amounts of greenhouse gasses emitted in the
air due to the product of hydrogen cars, water vapor. The same effect will occur
for ethanol where the end product will just dissolve into the water. Overall both of
these are viable energy alternatives and will become successful
overtime. However the situation may seem Oil will still be used for many years to
come(George W. Bush).
-Scott Masih
against bush
the audi A2H2( hydrogen compatible) and the Chevrolet Monte Carlo(ethanol
compatible). These green cars are both environmentally safe, affordable and
economically smart. To support my example of hydrogen i'll explain why it's so
smart. When hydrogen cars go into effect we'll be able to lessen our dependency
with oil along with importing it from foreign countries. Next, oil prices will
decrease which will then lower the amounts of greenhouse gasses emitted in the
air due to the product of hydrogen cars, water vapor. The same effect will occur
for ethanol where the end product will just dissolve into the water. Overall both of
these are viable energy alternatives and will become successful
overtime. However the situation may seem Oil will still be used for many years to
come(George W. Bush).
against bush
Question # 4
Is there a connection between oil and violence in the Middle East?
Many people, because of the progress in the war in Iraq, believe that there is a connection between oil and the War On Terrorism. I do not believe in this biastly-fabricated statement. There no solid facts retaining to the truth of the statement, “blood for oil.” (Referring to the War On Iraq.) No one, except for government officials, knows the true reason why we went to war with Iraq; but one thing is certain, our government would not start a war for oil. Our government is one of the best in the world, and would not make a blunt or as obvious move to attack Iraq plainly for oil. Even if we were to start a war for oil, it would be on a better and easier target. Iraq only produces only 1,350,000 barrels of oil per day, compared to Saudi Arabia or Iran, which both produce over double of the amount of oil produced by Iraq. If we did go to war with Iraq for oil, how are the prices so high? I guarantee that if we did go to war with Iraq for oil (which we didn’t), the prices would be a lot lower, and the government would be doing a much more efficient job lowering oil prices, and a better job in disguising the whole scheme as well. This comes to show that the violence in the Middle-East and the oil present there are un-related.
Sources:
Contributors:
Daniel Liu and Scott Masih,
in dedication to Mr. Stibitz
Page Information
|
Wiki Information |
Recent PBwiki Blog Posts |
Create your own educational wiki!