Contrary to popular sentiments about the United States’ dependence on oil, an objectivist business analyst defended the U.S.’s oil addiction Tuesday night at the University of Wisconsin, pointing to many of the benefits the oil industry provides.
Alex Epstein of the Ayn Rand Center in Washington, D.C., hosted the talk titled “In Defense of Oil.” His presentation examined how oil improves the lives of people around the world and how the use of it has shaped the modern age.
“I am continually astounded by how little credit is given to oil. Even today, 150 years after the birth of the oil industry, all that ever seems to be on people’s minds are the negatives — what about the laundry list of positives people celebrated for years?” Epstein said.
Epstein also pointed to the omnipresence of oil in our society, saying without oil, many of the products we use every day would not exist.
“Just think of anything you see made of petroleum — most everything plastic or non-natural. What would it be if it weren’t that? You can’t make it out of wood or metal. If it’s not made of oil, it’s probably coated in oil or stuck together by it,” Epstein said.
He continued his defense by discussing drawing attention to the means of transportation and sources of income the petroleum industry has and continues to provide in people’s everyday lives.
Epstein also addressed why alternative energy in its current form is neither practical nor highly efficient in regards to cost and creation.
“Oil is a finite resource, but people will continue to innovate the extracting and refining process leaving oil for years. People living 100 years ago couldn’t predict the shape of oil today. Why should we be so smart as to try for the next 100?” Epstein said.
The talk was followed by an extensive question and answer session. Many questions focused on issues related to oil, such as climate change and international relations.
On the topic of foreign policy, Epstein suggested only by lifting of restrictions on capitalism and land rights in much of the oil producing countries could a stable and far more successful global oil market emerge.
Closer to home, Epstein criticized many of the U.S.’s own policies, saying they harbor anti-oil opinions.
“I don’t believe the government has the right to claim land in [Alaska] because of a few caribou living there,” Epstein said. “It’s this kind of one side of environmentalism that has flooded many of our schools, teaching a kind of green dogma to children before they can reason for themselves about the issues.”
UW freshman and audience member Antonio Puglielli said it was refreshing to hear someone give the other side of the story on oil and, like Epstein, he agrees too many people take oil for granted.
Eric Brown, a UW senior, felt differently.
“Oil is in our everyday lives, more than people realize, but that doesn’t justify the continued use of it. Simply because it’s a big part of our lives doesn’t mean we can’t change things for the better. Oil and alternative energy don’t have to be mutually exclusive,” Brown said.
