America’s oil addiction: greasing foreign pockets

Now, more than ever, it’s time for our country to stand up, push all fears aside and… Now, more than ever, it’s time for our country to stand up, push all fears aside and proclaim, “Hello, my name is America and I’m a fueloholic.”

It’s no mystery that our country is addicted to oil. According to the Bureau of Land Management, Americans use about 830 million gallons of oil every day. Our nation must learn to kick the habit soon, because as gas prices continue to rise, the economic, political and environmental dangers of our oil dependency seem to intensify.

Today, oil is about $72 a barrel — making it clear that we cannot afford to delay quitting our oil addiction any longer. For one thing, it’s not safe to be dependent on a commodity that is shrinking in supply every day. At the rate we’re going, it doesn’t seem like we’d be able to withstand a future with no more oil.

Now, you may be thinking, “Sure, one day we’ll run out, but it won’t happen in my lifetime.” You may be right and if you don’t see an oil-less future approaching anytime soon, perhaps the prospect of a struggling economy seems more realistic. The rising cost of oil is hard on America’s piggy bank, leading to deeper deficits and unemployment particularly in the automobile industry. If you still find yourself apathetic, you should probably continue reading.

The dangers of our insatiable oil appetite do not end there. America’s dependence on foreign oil has serious political implications, making us vulnerable to the policies of the countries we rely on. An example lies in the 1973 oil crisis, when Middle Eastern Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries nations stopped oil exports to the United States and other Western nations as a means of punishment during the Arab-Israeli War. However, 1973 did not seem to be a lesson to us and it’s still a recurring possibility today.

Our greed for fuel makes us blind to the undemocratic regimes funded by our oil money. Take Saudi Arabia, for example. Ruled by long-time U.S. ally King Abdullah, the Saudi Arabian monarchy is infamous for its poor human rights conditions, denying many basic freedoms granted in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Why is this important? Because according to the Energy Information Administration, the United States buys 1.5 million barrels of crude oil from Saudi Arabia every day.

We are dependent on oil and dependent on the countries that produce it. Currently the United States is deciding how to deal with Iran’s growing nuclear aspirations. The Bush administration’s constant worry over Ahmadinejad’s every move makes it easy to forget that Iran is not the only member of the “axis of evil” whose nuclear ambitions deserve notice. In fact, North Korea’s nuclear weapons program dates back to the 1960s and the North Korean foreign ministry confirmed a few years ago that they are in possession of nuclear weapons. So why doesn’t the Bush administration take decisive action against North Korea? Could it be because North Korea produces no oil?

Let’s not forget about the growing environmental problems that we fuel everyday. The steady increase of greenhouse gas emissions contributes to pollution and harms the wildlife and the environment — and that’s alarming whether you believe in global warming or not.

But don’t worry too much. It’s not as though the government hasn’t noticed that our oil addiction is becoming more and more harmful.

About a year ago, President Bush signed into law the Energy Policy Act which, among other provisions, provides tax credits for the buyers of hybrid vehicles, guarantees loans for technologies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and increases the use of coal as an energy source.

However, the law does not include provisions to reduce fuel prices and fuel consumption in the short-run. It does not help to decrease America’s dependency on foreign oil. And while it guarantees loans for research on fuel-alternative technologies, it also provides billions of dollars to the nuclear power industry to research the polluting and hazardous process of recycling nuclear radioactive waste.

The Energy Policy Act is not perfect — in fact it’s far from it. As the first national energy plan in over a decade, the Energy Policy Act is an ominous sign of America’s lack of preparedness when it comes to our fuel problem.

It’s obvious that curing our oil addiction will not be as simple as walking into a Fueloholics Anonymous meeting. America’s situation is worsening and yet we find ourselves emptying our wallets at the pumps, buying SUVs and denying drastic climatic changes.

So let’s tackle this dilemma one stage at a time. As they would say at any FA meeting, the first step is admitting you have the problem.