Crude Greed 

 

 

By: Nilam and Priya

 

Mr. Stibitz

 

World Studies B3

 

December 2007

 

 

 

 

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

 

Our consumption of oil seems to contribute to the problem for why oil is such a negative aspect for the world. We both take over thirty minute car rides to and from school five days each week, and use oil as a part of our daily routines. But, we have no choice, we are dependent on oil for certain necessities such as transportation. We use oil for transportation, food, electronics, electricity, and much more. The major problem with oil seems to be that it is non-renewable and scarce. We understand the problems with oil; it is irreplaceable, overused, vital, and harmful to the environment. It is obvious that everyone's personal oil consumption make the problems with oil bigger. Oil is used in almost every way thought of; lights, computers, paint, driving, and medicine, just to name a few. Yet, we, as individuals are trying to help the world and reduce our oil consumption by doing simple things everyday such as carpooling with students in our nearby districts and turning off unneeded lights. Nevertheless, we cannot deny that our personal oil consumption adds to the stress of a limited and important oil supply.

 

--Nilam and Priya 12/7/07

 

 

By far, the major consumer of oil is the United States. The major producers seem to be countries within the Middle East.

 

 

 

2. What impact does oil have on our environment? 

 

Oil obviously impacts our environment in an endless number of ways. The oil industry is a booming business and provides millions of people with jobs and technological advances. In addition, oil is a major component in cooking, transportation, and simply just living a whole lot easier. Oil provides people with the resources they need to get important tasks done such as driving to work/school, making food, using electronics, and keeping homes warm. Oil exported from the United States and sold in other countries seems to be benefit the U.S. also. Yet, oil is a negative aspect to the environment as well. Oil spills cause harm to innocent animals and ruin water bodies. Harmless animals are put into danger everyday because of the oil abuse by humans. On top of that, the costs for cleaning oil-filled water are huge. In addition, the uses of oil in traveling, heating homes, and other everyday uses hurt the environment each day. As obvious as it is, oil over usage is causing pollution to the environment and is encouraging global warming. As toxic and other environment non-friendly gases are being let into the air as oil is burned, the world is suffering as global warming snaps into action. As anyone can see, oil plays a very important role in the lives of people and is a key essential in completing daily tasks, but the negative causes of oil hurt the world everyday.

 

--Nilam and Priya 12/8/07

 

 

 

    

 

There is nothing good about oil spills--pain is caused to every aspect. These pictures clearly represent the negatives of oil.

 

 

 

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.

 

With the emerging technological advances in the world, it seems safe to assume that there are viable energy alternatives for oil for certain purposes. For example, oil is used to make gasoline for cars. Presently, oil-consuming cars are being substituted with Hybrid vehicles, which run on a rechargeable battery. Renewable energy is a great example of an alternative to oil. Renewable energy utilizes power from natural sources such as the sun and produces energy. Wind energy can be used to generate electricity as long as the sun keeps shining. In addition, wind is free, which seems to be an incentive for many people, over paying hundreds of dollars for gas a month to power regular cars. In the United States, the usage of electricity rises every year, mostly because of the growing population. If renewable sources, such as wind energy, were used more in countries, there would be a huge and positive effect on the world. More renewable energy means less oil, and less oil means saving more money and keeping the environment clean. But, honestly, it can be said that Americans will not stop driving their cars or purchase an expensive Hybrid just to help the environment. People need to get places, and cars seem to be the most efficient way. Oil is thought of as a necessity in today's world. Thus, there are alternatives to oil for energy, but it is up to Americans to make use of them. In the following video, it is explained how the United States is starting to use wind energy to keep the country in good shape. The link located below the video is a website produced by the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) and includes articles, tips, and information about wind turbine energy.

 

--Nilam 12/12/07

 

 

 

 

 http://www.awea.org/

 

 

 

Hybrid vehicles are a smart alternative over fuel-consuming cars.

 

 

 
 4. Is there a connection between oil and violence in the Middle East?
 
Obviously, oil is in high demand. Prices of gasoline are going up and new technologies which run on oil are being invented. But, oil will someday be gone, and none will be left to make use of. There is a huge connection between oil and Middle Eastern violence. Most of the world's oil reserves are from the Middle East. Almost every country in the world depends on oil, whether it is for transportation, religious purposes, or power. Since oil is essential, and the Middle East has most of the world's oil reserves, there is certainly a "mad dash" for the oil. Typically speaking, every country in the Middle East wants to benefit from oil sales. Thus, it can be assumed that there are civil wars between different countries in the Middle East about who gets to produce oil and end up as a powerful nation. As valuable as it is nowadays, oil is vital to perform necessary tasks in countries, especially technologically advanced countries like our own. If one country or region in the Middle East is benefiting from oil sales, there will be disputes about economic distribution, further leading to hate, hurt, and war.
 
--Nilam 12/12/07
 
 
There are many connections between oil and the violence in the Middle East, as Nilam pointed out. Additionally, oil in the Middle East can be seen as a source of power. As oil brings in wealth for these countries, it can also cause countries to go corrupt, governmentally speaking. The wealth brought in by oil revenues for these countries should therefore be handled responsibly. To add on, many people criticize President Bush for using the war to gain control of the oil (and therefore power) in the Middle East. This is another conflict which surrounds the matter of oil. However, I don't see oil itself as the cause for violence in the Middle East. Rather, the problem arises when we, as people, make wrong decisions as to how we control and use it. But, most definitely, there is a connection between oil and violence in the Middle East.
 
--Priya 12/14/07

 

 
 
 
More About "The Black Gold"
 
 
The following video is excellent. We think that it very effectively demonstrates how dependent people are on oil, the uses of oil, and the negative aspects of it. This video is nothing but the truth about what oil really is.
 

 

 

 

The following link includes information about global problems and the Middle East. The website also incorporates religion into the reason for Middle Eastern violence.
http://www.globalissues.org/Geopolitics/MiddleEast.asp
 
 
The following website includes recent news about oil in the Middle East and the role it plays in the world. It includes a series of articles about oil in the Middle East.
http://www.al-bab.com/arab/news/oil.htm
 
 
This websites actually fights against the claim that the Middle East has two thirds of all oil reserves in the world. The author(s) of the site uses facts about Middle Eastern oil to prove his/her findings.
 http://www.runet.edu/~wkovarik/oil/index.html
 
 
 
This is a slideshow we made about the many views of oil.
 

 
 
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    Nadia:WOW! Firstly, allow me to say that I was very impressed by your page. The layout, color schemes, images, and all aspects flowed together very nicely. I especially enjoyed reading both sides to the story, and being able to see and understand your viewpoints in a more thorough manner. I do agree with your beliefs as they seem to be quite legitimate, and well thought. The data provided supported your argument sufficiently, and was quite satisfying. Overall, I think this was a phenomenal page and I was very thrilled reading it!
    elisia:AMAZING! For every question, you had great reasons to support your ideas, and great sites. You also included many goog pictures and video clips. In number two, I liked how you talked about the pros and cons of oil. In number three, you recognized that there were energy alternatives but, you also mentioned that you believe that Americans would probably not switch to these energy alternatives, which is a very good and truthful point, that I completely agree with. However for number three, I would have spoken of other energy alternatives other than wind power. All in all, I was in awe at how spectacular this page was!
    Tiago J:I totally agree with what Nilam is saying on these questions, specially in question number 3. It is true that there are some substitutes for oil such as solar energy as Nilam mentioned, but my question is that if there are substitutes for oil than why don't we use them. While reading this blog page I found two answers. One was that maybe because other sources aren't as efficient as oil. My second answer was that maybe people aren't aware of what oil could do to our environment. I find this blog page as an informative page. It is true that oil is a source that people are used to work with. It is going to be hard to change it, but we have no other choice, otherwise our environment is going to take those causes.
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