Is Oil Evil?

Q.1: Is your personal consumption of oil part of the problem? Q.2: What impact does oil have on our environment?  Q.3: Are there any viable energy alternatives? Q.4: Is there a connection between oil and violence in the Middle East? Sources: Contributors:

Q.1: Is your personal consumption of oil part of the problem?

I do believe that my personal consumption is part of the problem. Oil is part of our daily consumption, through transportation, heating, and a lot of other things.  Without transportation in our society there would be no way to survive. We need it to get groceries, get to work and school, and for importing and exporting goods from other countries. Without oil, none of this would be possible and life would be a lot harder. Our whole society is built around oil and without oil eveything that goes on would not be possible. Of course, there are different alternatives of transportation that use less oil, but many people, including myself, might not be willing to give up their time and effort to use less oil by walking, or biking. Walking and biking are not good modes of transportation, because it would be unpractical in winter or for distances over 5 miles. Also, in many places, there is no public transportation available. Public transportation would greatly reduce the oil consumption of the US, this would also which would save a lot of energy and oil. In other countries, there are way more alternatives to using your car and wasting oil and money, like subways or busses. If this was the case in the US, a lot more people would start trying to save oil and money. F.B.

All plastic is made from petroleum, and plastic is used almost everywhere: in cars, houses, toys, computers, packaging and clothing. Asphalt that is used in roads is also a petroleum product, so is the synthetic rubber in tires. Elements like helium, sulfur, and other valuable materials are produced from oil wells along with petroleum itself. Millions of people around the world are employed to find or produce petroleum, ship and refine it, and manufacture and market the many products made from it. Petroleum does employ a lot of people and helps economies grow and become integrated in world trade. Basically everything in our homes is somehow related to or made of oil. Appliances, packaging, cosmetics, ect… are all made of oil. Everyone makes a difference. We can all try to cut back, but to totally stop using oil would take a revolution. And until that day, we are all hurting the environment and financially supporting terrorist groups in the Middle East by buying their oil. Oil spills from transporting oil can kill plants and animals and soil beaches. This causes pollution. Plastic objects and containers are thrown away, but the plastic does not decay quickly. Plastic stays around and may sometimes injure or kill wildlife. Thoughtless disposal of plastic causes problems for us all. I personally would not be able to find any food product that does not have a plastic packaging. So, the big question here is how can we use petroleum products more sensibly in our own lives? The burning of oil produces carbon dioxide as a by-product. This adding of excess CO2 levels to the atmosphere is causing global warming. T.G. and F.B.

I use oil for transportation, food, electronics, and much more. The major problem with oil seems to be that it is non-renewable and that the scarcity of oil is still a problem because people overuse it. I problem with oil it that it is irreplaceable, overused, harmful, and scarce. It is obvious that everyone's personal oil consumption leads to the problem with oil. In one way or another, every person contributes to using oil. Yet, we are trying to reduce our personal oil consumption by doing simple everyday things such as using less electricity and carpooling. Anyways, my consumption of oil adds to the stress of a limited and important oil supply. I think that our personal consumption of oil is a big part of the problem. There are six billion people in the world and if everyone uses some form of fossil fuels for energy we really do have an impact. Every person counts in this global issue. Even though, the oil industry is a growing industry and it provides millions of people with jobs. Oil provides people with the resources they need to get important things done such as driving to work/school, making food, using electronics, and keeping their homes warm. Oil exported from the United States can also lead to economical gains. T.G.

Q.2: What impact does oil have on our environment? 

When we add up everyone's oil consumption it can start to add up and there becomes a problem. Oil refining often releases dangerous substances into the air, causing pollution. By using oil based products and using petroleum in cars most of us don’t really think a lot about where this oil is coming from and what the effect could be on the environment. When we buy gas at a gas station our cars burn it and give off carbon emissions that create holes the ozone layer, which allow rays from the sun to increasing the Earth's temperature. This leads to more storms and abnormal weather patterns. But it's not just the atmosphere that's affected. Oil spill when transporting oil can also be a big environmental problem. Therefore, oil is hurting the environment. Oil spills cause harm to innocent animals and ruin water bodies. On top of that, the costs to clean the oil filled water are huge. As you can see, oil plays a very important role in the lives of people and is a key essential in completing daily tasks, but the bad aspects of oil hurt the world everyday. T.G.

http://pubs.usgs.gov/wri/wri03-4260/

Q.3: Are there any viable energy alternatives?

• Discuss and include a live link to a credible website. 
• The link must show how this is being addressed in a specific country.

Wind, solar, geothermal, hydro, and tidal are the only potentially energy alternatives, but they’re too expensive, too difficult, or too restrictive. Or are they? It depends on how they are carried out. My biggest bets are on wind and solar energy. Solar energy seems to be the most immediate, cheap, and the least restrictive choice. Although hybrid cars are a viable solution to reduce oil consumption the high price and low performance turn off customers. France is jumping ahead of other countries when it comes to nuclear energy. They save a lot of oil because they use nuclear energy instead of oil. Nuclear energy is a better and cheaper alternative to oil and is a cleaner and more efficient way of harvesting energy. T.G.

http://www.jimpinto.com/writings/oilcrisis.html

Q.4: Is there a connection between oil and violence in the Middle East?

Since all of the Middle Eastern countries want to have a rich economy and become rich countries, and since there is only a limited supply of oil in the Middle East region. There will definitely be a race to reach the oil. The connection between the oil price trend and the trend toward death and violence in the Middle East is stronger than you might think. There has been an increase in bombings. Take Iraq, for example. Iraq is an oil-rich country with perhaps the world's second largest reserves—estimated 115 billion. These assets and resources have contributed to Iraq's wealth but have also created incentives for corruption and mismanagement. With power comes corruption, and with oil one gets power, and everyone wants power, but everyone cannot have it when oil is unrenewable resource. Smugling of oil and exploitation of oil fields are also big contributers. F.B.

Yes, the persian gulf war was all about oil. Since it's such a valuable commodity of course everyone's gonna want it. Without oil, we would not be able to run our daily lives. So we really can't take a risk with oil. T.G.

http://www.commondreams.org/views01/0914-04.htm

Sources:

1.   http://www.commondreams.org/views01/0914-04.htm
2.   http://pubs.usgs.gov/wri/wri03-4260/
3.   http://www.gold-eagle.com/gold_digest_05/droke042906.html
4.   http://crudeoilbiz.com/oil-industry-burning.shtml
5.   http://www.jimpinto.com/writings/oilcrisis.html

Contributors:

 Tanvi G.

 Fabienne B.

 Create your own educational wiki!HelpPublic, not yet premium Privacy Policy RSS