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The Real Price of the Insatiable Appetite for Oil
By Hwaa Irfan 05/12/2001
In the aftermath of September 11, gas prices increased and so did concerns about how the oil supply would be threatened by the war in Afghanistan. World citizens worried about living on a planet with low oil supplies. However, no one seems as concerned now with the effects of an
abundant oil supply in a country. Yet, the effects are devastating and can be measured in terms of environmental, human and political terms.
Environmentally, oil is the leading cause of greenhouse gas emissions in the United States today. A recent study by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) shows that extreme environmental degradation is the result of the world's demand for mobility. In their study, air transportation alone is responsible for 8 -12% of transportation related carbon emissions, which when emitted at high altitudes cause damage to humans and the environment (ENS, p.3).
In human terms, a 1995 a Harvard University study revealed that a staggering 30,000 Americans die each year from diseases stemming from car exhaust fumes. The World Watch Institute estimated that the damage to human and environmental health from vehicle emissions cost $93 billion in 1993 alone (Herstgaard, p.1, 2).
Politically, many people are concerned that oil interests effect political decisions such as global aid, treaties and even wars. The "war on terror" in Afghanistan, the Gulf War and the uprisings in Chechnya are some of the most recent alleged victims of an oil-hungry world. Some analysts have accused the United States of leading their "war against terror" in Afghanistan because of its prime importance to the oil industry. They use the American government's own documents to support their suspicions. The U.S. government's Energy Information
Fact Sheet on Afghanistan of December of 2000 stated: "Afghanistan is significant from an energy standpoint as a potential transit route for oil and natural gas experts from Central Asia to the Arabian Sea. This potential supports proposed multi-billion dollar oil and gas export pipelines through Afghanistan." The executive vice-president of UNOCAL, Bob Todor said that the pipelines would terminate in the Arabian Gulf, which is closer than the Persian Gulf or northern China, to key Asian markets. The pipeline would be crucial for U.S. oil giants because it would allow them to sell their oil in an expanding and highly prospective Asian market (Yechury, p.3). UNOCAL is a conglomerate of six energy companies and the government of Turkmenistan.
Just as disturbing as waging war a war for oil, is the backwards trend in the conservation arena. Just nine days before President Bush's inauguration, many environmental regulations were reversed, allowing even more freedom to oil importers, exporters and consumers. Energy lobbyists met nine days before Bush's inauguration at the American Institute of Petroleum (API) to write up their "dream list". This API list was then forwarded to the transition team, then to the Interior Department. Finally, on January 29, the list was received by the Energy Task Force - which was convened by Vice-President Dick Cheney who is an ex-CEO of Halliburton, the worlds largest oil services company (Fineman & Isikoff, p.40).
Key leaders from the API meeting were then appointed to pivotal positions. J. Stephenson Griles and Thomas Sansonetti were appointed to the Interior and Justice Departments respectively. From this, a report was formulated that recommended a high-tech 21st century, the core of which was the call for new sources of fossil fuels. Then in early May of this year, President Bush declared, "voters needed to hear 'loud and clear' that we are running out of energy in America" (Fineman & Isikoff, p.38-40). President Bush's energy plan was endorsed in August 2001 by the House of Representatives, which stated that it would help maintain the U.S.'s "energy security". There were $33 billion worth of tax incentives for oil companies included in the bill (Hertsgaard, p. 1).
Despite the call for "more energy", the detrimental effects of using this energy are becoming more and more clear. In the year 2001 there have been an increasing number of natural disasters in Europe, including many oilrig accidents. This had many world leaders calling for a follow through on the Kyoto Protocol before it is too late.
In fact, in the Kyoto Protocol, the main target is America, because it is the world's biggest emitter of greenhouse gases and the leading advocate of trading emission credits with the developing world. The U.S. imports 51% of its crude oil, with a prediction of 64% by 2020 from the Energy Information Administration (Yechury, p.2). The U.S., being mobile society with a high automobile ration, then absorbs 65% of its supply with private transportation - growing steadily since 1998. The U.S. pays $1.65 per gallon of gasoline while Europe pays $4.00 because of taxes, which are mostly used to support alternative fuels. Even with the price hikes, however, the U.S. pays the lowest per capita.
Every second, a vehicle adds 60,000 pounds of global warming carbon dioxide to the atmosphere, which represents two thirds of the total U.S. emissions (Motavilli, p.1-3).
So has this call to protect our oil resources and provide more energy gone too far? The eco-think-tank, the Rocky Mountain Institute, which analyzed the Pentagon and the Department of Energy's spending for the mid-nineties, shows that it has. The study showed that federally funded research and development entities gave at least $50 billion of the annual U.S. military budgets to U.S. forces whose primary purpose is to safeguard Middle Eastern oil fields and shipping lanes (Hertsgaard p.2).
Sources:
Californialung.org. "There's even more you should know About Smart Growth, Urban Sprawl, Air Quality and Health." May 2001.
ENS. "Mobility Study Warns of Gridlock, Pollution." Environment. The Lycos Network. 15/10/01.
Fineman, Howard. & Isikoff, Michael. "Big Energy at the Table. Newsweek.137:20 (2001) 38-40.
Hertsgaard, Mark. "The Real Price of Oil."
www.motherjones.com. 10/15/01.
Motavilli, Jim. "Sticker Shock at the Pumps Symbolizes Fossil Fuel Malaise." E Magazine. 10/20/01.
Yechury, Sitaram. "America, Oil and Afghanistan."
The Hindu. 10/18/01.
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