Even though the price of crude oil has been on the decline for the past week or so, the price of gas is still considerably high and is on the minds of most Americans. Hardly any newscast goes by without a report on the price of gas or the innovations in alternative energy that promise to be the solution to the current energy crisis. Fears over the environmental implications of the excessive use of fossil fuels are also contributing to the people’s interest in the development of alternative energy sources.
Yet, it seems not even the prospect of high gas prices and irreversible environmental damage can convince politicians and the media to change their ways. The rising cost of energy production has been used and abused by both major parties for their own political gain. They both blame each other for failing to facilitate the development of alternative energy resources. They blame OPEC for not producing enough oil. They blame “Big Oil” for making absurd profits at the expense of the hardworking American. But the end product is always the same — nothing. To truly understand the predicament we are in and how to solve it, one should look beyond the two-sentence answers of politicians and the “if it bleeds it leads” headlines of news networks.
Oil is truly the earth’s most valuable resource, and it should be treated as such. No other material has supported the progress of so many industries and pushed our civilization forward as oil has.
From the paper you’re holding to the clothes you’re wearing, almost everything around you comes as a result of oil. Now imagine all of those things gone, and you’ll get my point. This is why we should move beyond blaming others and realize our excessive use of oil and our false sense of entitlement to cheap oil are to blame for the crisis we’re facing. Oil is not unjustifiably expensive.
Global demand for oil has risen considerably, and supply is struggling to keep up. Also, the market is affected by a large variety of factors such as storms, wars or even civil unrest in oil-producing regions. Yet you almost never hear politicians or media outlets acknowledging the complexity of this issue, far be it for them to attempt to inform the public. Instead they blame those pesky speculators, who apparently have a grudge against Americans and chose to take their revenge by raising the price of fuel.
We need to realize our need for alternative energy resources goes beyond our need for transportation fuel. We need alternative methods for the production of polymers, textiles, industrial lubricants, cosmetics, electronics and other items that depend on oil byproducts in their production. Hence, we should start investing whatever it takes, not only in alternative fuel technologies, but also the development of alternative production methods for all of these vital industries that rely on oil. We should not wait for industries to act because they have proven time and time again that so long as their margin of profit is healthy, they won’t be bothered. We as a people should demand that both our industries and our government invest in alternatives before it’s too late.
This energy crisis should not only serve as a reminder of our need for alternative fuel resources, but also as reminder of our dire need to reduce our levels of consumption. And it seems the American public has gotten the message at least on this one. Americans’ use of fuel has declined as a result of the high gas prices we’ve witnessed these last few months. Still, we shouldn’t wait until the shit hits the fan before we act. We should anticipate these problems and work to prevent them in advance. At the risk of sounding cliche, we cannot afford to procrastinate on this issue; we must act now.
Ammar Al Marzouqi ([email protected]) is a sophomore majoring in computer engineering.
