Drilling any of America’s oil—whether from the frozen tundra of Alaska, the black gold of Texas, or the watery depths of American coasts—is destructive to the future stability of America. I do not mean environmentally damaging because that is an entirely different debate. What I am talking about is the future economic, strength of America being at risk as a result of oil drilling.
Since oil drilling began, it has been apparent that oil wells do not last forever. Eventually, the oil wells will dry up and we will have to turn to an alternate source of energy not only in the United States but also across the world. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, oil currently supplies 40% of our total energy needs and 99% of the energy we use in our cars and trucks. This takes on new meaning when you realize that every car on the road would be completely useless without oil. Beyond the effect that it would have on your daily life, oil is crucial to our military. Our advanced weaponry and equipment would all be totally useless without oil. America would stand vulnerable before any other country that had oil to fuel its attack
The estimates for how long various oil reserves will last are unclear but all agree on one thing: all oil reserves will eventually dry up. Saudi Arabia has the largest portion—19.5%--of the world’s oil reserves hidden under its sands. Canada comes in second at 13.5% followed by Iran, Iraq, and the UAE with 9.9%, 8.3%, and 7.2% respectively. What this means for the US is that 4 of the 5 biggest oil reserves in the US come from countries who are not concerned with the well being of America. Canada, as a result of its proximity to the US, can be considered a trusted ally and are of no cause for concern. Upon examining these 5 countries we can see that the oil in these countries will not last much longer than 100 years. When the oil is gone we will all be on our hands and knees, crippled by the lack of oil.
The American government is aware of the problems that a disruption in the supply of oil could cause to its citizens and its military. In response to this, it has set up the Strategic Petroleum Reserve off the coast of the Gulf of Mexico. This reserve can hold 727 barrels of oil or, in other words, is the largest oil reserve in the world. In addition to these reserve, there is a separate reserve that can be used for heating oil in the North Eastern region of America. Accord to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, America uses almost 20 million barrels of oil per day. That means that our nations reserve would last us just over a month and probably less if there was a sudden military crisis.
What we often forget is that the US has over 20 billion barrels of untapped oil in the ground. This is enough oil to supply the US for 8 years. If we stop drilling our oil we would have reserves to protect ourselves. We would have oil when all other sources dry up. Some people say that America is dependent on foreign oil sources. This is only true if it is our only source of oil. If we were to save our oil in reserve, we would not be dependent on foreign oil but would, in fact, be more independent from foreign oil in the future.
Colby,
ReplyDeleteInteresting argument, and great facts. From what I can see, you're arguing that America should stop drilling for oil here at home so that we can have reserves for when the rest of the world runs out of oil. That's definitely an innovative argument--most people argue that we need to drill here at home so that we won't be dependent on other countries for our oil. That will definitely be a counterargument for your paper.
So are you suggesting that we stop drilling at home and start innovating in the green energy department? Or, are you suggesting that we go on using the world's oil, biding our time for the day when they all come to us begging for our oil?