PT.1  PT.2 PT.3 PT. 4 Sources: Contributors:

 

Is Oil Evil?

 

 

 

 

 

 

PT.1 

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

 

 

Personally, I think that almost everyone contributes to the problem of oil. We as a society use way too much oil and I think we really do take it for granted. Oil is used for multi purposes. Oil is used for fuel in various transportations, energy for light and electricity, in clothing use, leisure activities and many more. The majority of us probably only think that we use oil for fuel to start our cars, but it’s much more. One huge problem is that Americans use cars almost every single day. To go to work, drop kids off to school, or going somewhere to meet someone, whatever the reason may be, we all use cars for transportation. It is rare to see trains, subways, and buses where they actually conserve oil while still at the same time transport a large sum of people to where they need to be. This is why cars are such a necessity for us. There aren’t t

oo many places where this is set up; most likely you would find them in populated cities. Since we use so much everyday, the price for gas increases greatly creating a problem for people when they have to pay almost an average of $50-$60 or more on gas. It will now be more of a problem when I start driving soon when I turn sixteen, I will be using a lot of gas just to go to school. (Erin K)

 

 

 

 

 

PT.2

2.  What impact does oil have on our environment? 

 

 

 

 

                     This short animation shows how bad oil spills can hurt our environment.

 

 

 

 

Oil has a huge impact on our environment. If not careful, oil can have spills in areas of land or in a body of water anywhere, which results in a bad effect for Mother Nature. This is can unfortunately kill the ocean’s marine life and all the organisms. Also with everyone burning fuels from their cars and factories are releasing oxygen for the air, resulting in air pollution. Air pollution has been a major problem and still is today. If we continue at this rate, we are literally damaging the air that we need to breathe to be healthy and to keep the environment clean. We need to focus on facing reality and to try to eliminate some of the bad things we are doing to our environment and start improving it before it gets worse. Use a hybrid car, or plant a tree outside, whatever it is, hopefully it can make our environment a better place to live for everyone. (Erin K)                         

 

 

 

 

 

PT.3

• Discuss and include a live link to a credible website.  

 

• The link must show how this is being  addressed in a specific country.

 

 

 

There are many energy alternatives to oil such as wind power, solar energy, some types of wave energy, and even geothermic energy. Recently in the United States wind power has become extremely popular. Ninety percent of the United State's potential wind energy lies within North Dakota, South Dakota, Texas, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, Wyoming, Oklahoma, Minnesota, Iowa, Colorado, and New Mexico (Newton par. 8). And, wind power has proven to be an inexpensive, sufficient way alternative form of energy. By 1995 California was able to produce enough wind power to supply the whole city of San Francisco with electricity (Newton par. 8). Over time as technology advanced, the cost  has decreased while the efficiency has increased. It has been the fastest growing form of alternative energy since the mid 1990's (Newton par. 9). Wind energy will become even more popular as issues such as pollution and globabl warming increase as a result of the burning of fossil fuels (Newton par. 13). Power from the wind is a developing, renewable energy source that will help solve the problem of the shrinking oil supply. (Taylor M.)

 

 

This YouTube video shows how Indian reserves throughout the United States are using the wind sources it has and converting it into energy. Wind is clean and renewable, and withing Indian country there is enough wind to produce 15% of the nation's electricity.

 

PT. 4

 There is a definite connection between oil and the violence among the Middle Eastern countries. In Iraq, the profits made from oil were supposed to pay for the rebuilding of the country. But, instead of bringing stability to the country, it's causing civil war, violence, and corruption. Between insurgents and smugglers attacking the pipelines, Iraw loses about ten percent of their oil. That's ten percent of profits that aren't going toward the rebuilding of the nation that is in need of a lot of help. The Yom Kippur War shows how oil and violence are directly related. OPEC put an embargo on countries that supported Israel during the Yom Kippur War, which just happened to be most of the Western countries. Because of wars that were occuring among countries in the Middle East, oil was used as a defense mechanism to help protect countries fighting against Israel and their allies. Oil may not create violence, but the power of oil does. And with most of the oil lying in the Middle East, they contain a lot of control over the daily lives of common people. Disruption of a person's everyday life can lead to anger, hatred, and violence.

But, oil is not the only cause of violence in the Middle Eastern region.  There have been much longer conflicts between the inhabitants in the Middle East that have caused violence and even wars. The religious conflicts between the followes of Chrisitanity, Islam, and Judaism are problems that have been around since the time of Isaac and Ismael, Abraham's two sons. Differences among these religions have caused internal struggles and harships for the Middle Eastern citizens.

The creation of Israel as a homeland for the Jewish people is another event with a major contribution to violence in the Middle East because there were people living within Israel's borders before it was set aside as the Jewish homeland in the Middle East. (Taylor M.)

 

This cartoon of George Bush explains how much power the

Middle East really has because of the amount of oil they control.

Sources:

1.   "Iraq's disappearing oil."  The Wilson Quarterly.  30. 4 (Autumn 2006): 69(2). Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center. Thomson Gale. INTERNATIONAL ACADEMY HIGH SCHOOL. 9 Dec. 2007 <http://find.galegroup.com>. (Taylor M.)
2. Newton, David E, and Dupler, Douglas.  "Wind energy." Environmental Encyclopedia.  Ed. Marci Bortman, Peter Brimblecombe and Mary Ann Cunningham.  3rd ed. Detroit: Gale, 2003. Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center. Thomson Gale. INTERNATIONAL ACADEMY HIGH SCHOOL. 11 Dec. 2007 <http://find.galegroup.com>  (Taylor M.)
3. http://youtube.com/watch?v=vWDT-k9zlG0 

 

 

 

 

Contributors:

 

 Taylor M.

 Erin K.

 

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