Is Oil Evil?

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

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

In America, billions of people use oil every day.  We all drive cars and use products produced by factories that run on oil.  As an individual, it may seem as if you are too small to make any significant difference, but that is not true.  If every one of the billions of people in the world cut down their oil consumption by even a little bit, it would make a huge difference.  You really do have to be the change that you want to see in the world.

America is the largest consumer of oil in the world. The U.S. population uses 20,730,000 barrels of oil per day. This is 25% of the total oil consumption in the entire world. It is also about 3 times as much oil than is used by China, the world's next largest oil consumer. These numbers are unreal. America alone is responsible for one quarter of the air pollution in the world. Americans depend on oil to live. This luxury has become a necessity of our modern society, and it is one that we don't want to give up. Every person who wants to live a better, cleaner life has to begin by fighting the oil consumption in their own families and communities. Simple things like carpooling, riding your bike, or even turning out the lights when you leave the house will make a huge difference in the long run. The problem of pollution and oil consumption, and the problems that result from it, won't fix themselves.

2.  What impact does oil have on our environment? 

This is a very controversial issue.  Many claim that global warming has nothing to do with the results of human activity, while others say that pollution is killing our planet. Both sides of this issue have relevant facts to back them up, however, I personally believe that human pollution has a great deal to do with global warming.

No matter what side of the argument you are on, no one can deny that the planet has mot been going through a warming stage. The evidence is all around us. Water levels are rising as the polar ice caps melt, temperatures around the world are hotter than ever, and hurricanes and tropical storms have been more severe in recent years than ever before. Many people, including myself, believe that carbon dioxide emissions produced by the burning of fossil fuels has greatly contributed to the warming of our planet. The added carbon dioxide traps the sun's heat in the atmosphere. This added heat is devastating our environment. Melting icecaps could cause the extinction of species such as polar bears, penguins, and leopard seals that live at the top and bottom of the Earth. It is also causing natural disasters, such as hurricanes and tsunamis, to be more severe than they have been in years. Hurricane Katrina, which devastated the city of New Orleans in Louisiana, was so big and so powerful because warmer ocean temperatures gave it more fuel. Global warming caused the disruptions in nature that are destroying out Earth.

Our planet is one of kind. If we ruin it, there is no back up plan. By cutting down on our oil consumption, we can help create a better home to live in. We have one chance to fix our planet before it crumbles under the impossible strain we are putting on it. Let's not blow it.

3.  Are there any viable energy alternatives?

Oil is not the only way to power a country. Other forms of energy production, such as wind power and nuclear power, can be very effective and can produce just as much power as oil can, but without the pollution.

Wind power is a successful way to produce energy without harming the environment with carbon dioxide emissions or oil spills. The wind turbines themselves produce no waste product, as they are powered by only air. Nuclear power is also a much cleaner way to produce electricity. Although there are some potential dangers of working with nuclear power, the plants produce much less air pollution than an oil powered plant. These alternative energy sources are just as effective, and much cleaner than, power plants that are run on fossil fuels.

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gLX7G5zX6rM

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

There is a connection between violence in the Middle East and other parts of the world and oil. Or, more specifically, oil production and sales. The way the oil industry works, it tends to make a few people extremely wealthy while the rest of the country and its population becomes poorer and poorer. Many people are pushed to the edge of desperation and do things they would never consider doing before. These are the acts of terrorism that occur in our world today. Desperate people do desperate things. The video on the main page of the Oilblog does a fantastic job of explaining this. It is true that in our oil consumption, we are actually funding both sides of the War on Terror. By cutting down our oil consumption, finding alternative energy sources, and cleaning up our environment, we will be doing much more than just that. We will be saving the livelihoods of many people in oil rich countries by cutting off the flawed oil economy at its source. We will be creating a better place to live.

Sources:

1. http://www.nationmaster.com/red/graph/ene_oil_con-energy-oil-consumption

2. http://www.ucar.edu/learn/1_3_1.htm

3. http://www.gfdl.noaa.gov/~tk/glob_warm_hurr.html

Contributors:

Alex M.

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