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Should America Drill? The recent economic and socio-political developments in the world make the arguments of those who are against lifting the 1981 -ban on offshore oil drilling, to sound less and less plausible, due to the fact that citizens slowly begin to understand that designing Americas economic policies can no longer be affected environmental considerations, to the extent it used to be, even as recent as ten years ago. The reason is very simple Earth is already being overpopulated, with the planets natural resources becoming the subject of fierce competition between countries. The population of Ethiopia has tripled within the matter of last 25 years, while being constantly subjected to never-ending famine and civil war.
The population of China is going to reach 1. 5 billion, by year 2033. Therefore, it does not matter whether we are going to be able to find new sources of energy (which is highly unlikely) or to increase the effectiveness of agriculture the shortage of food and mineral resources is going to affect worlds socio-political reality more then any other factor. In very near future, it is the possession of natural resources, on the part of every particular country, which is going to guarantee its geopolitical survival and U. S, is not the exemption, in this respect. It is being estimated that worlds discovered oil deposits will be depleted in fifty years from now, with Saudi, Kuwaiti and Emirates kings and princes being forced to switch from riding cars that cost millions of dollars each, back to riding camels, as it used to be the case, before oil was discovered in the area of Persian Gulf.
However, it is very doubtful whether the majority of Americans will be willing to start riding bicycles, cooking their food over open fire and bathing in rivers, as the result of American politicians being unable to prioritize the matters of economy over the matters of promoting democracy and protection of environment. It is important to understand that, when it comes to insuring nations physical survival, the environmental considerations become secondary. It is also important to understand that, even before American economy has taken a steep dive, the arguments of tree huggers, who always criticized the possibility of American oil companies being allowed to drill in offshore zones, never sounded plausible. We all remember the public hysteria instigated by Liberal wackos in eighties, over the fact that the holes in ozone layer were being discovered in Antarctica.
This eventually led to aerosol sprays being banned nationwide, as such that destroy ozone layer. However, by nineties, these holes had simply patched themselves up, with even more people realizing that it is crucial for environmentalists to have something to complain about, because they simply cannot live without being able to promote the concept of humankind's environmental wickedness. The same can be said about much debated issue of Global warming, which is being discussed within a context of peoples industrial activities. Apparently, tree huggers believe that it is the emissions of CO 2 into the atmosphere that result in Earth climate becoming warmer, despite the fact that there is simply no scientific proof, which would substantiate their opinion, in this respect. After all, the eruption of one volcano emits as much CO 2 into the atmosphere as do all coal-operated power plants in the world together, over the period of hundred years.
Today, the very same people who had proven themselves being unable to rely on their sense of logic, while discussing complex political and economic issues in earlier years, tell us that lifting 1981 ban on offshore oil drilling is something utterly unacceptable. For example, in his article The oil Industry has Plans for You, which can be found on the web site of Committee Against Oil Exploration, Jan Lundberg goes as far as to suggest that, in order to protect natural environment, the civilization al progress in this country must be reversed backwards: Prices of natural gas have risen greatly and are going nowhere but up. This threatens economic growth. There is no sign of conservation - or, more impressive - a transition to doing without nearly so much energy consumption. The pointlessness and greed of continuing present energy usage, when basic needs can be provided for on a fraction of today's energy use, is never accounted for (Lundberg, 2003). We have little doubt as to the fact that Lundberg was typing these lines on his laptop computer, while drinking organic coffee at Starbucks, as well as we have no doubt as to the fact that, had Lundberg been deprived of possibility to visit Starbucks and to chose among numerous kinds of coffee and doughnuts, on regular basis, he would not be able to survive; therefore, just as any White Liberal, he is the least qualified to promote the concept of returning to Earth.
It is exactly the greed, on the part of White people, which enabled them to push cultural and scientific progress forward, throughout the centuries. This progress cannot be artificially slowed down, as it would signify the beginning of people being gradually turned back into the apes. The objective reality indicates the fact that the majority of Americans strongly support lifting of the ban. In his article Eyeing the Oil Under the Gulf, Kent Garber comes up with the evidence that, even many ardent environmentalists are now beginning to reconsider their opinion, in regards to offshore drilling, simply because they do not want to loose a public support: Republican presidential candidate John McCain has been trumpeting the cause almost daily on the campaign trail. And even presumptive Democratic nominee Barack Obama, as part of his new energy plan, has modified his earlier opposition to expanded drilling.
Their motivation is simple. Two thirds of Americans say they favour more drilling, mainly out of hope that gas prices will fall as a result (Garber, p. 25). The fact is, the majority of Americans could not care less about the dangers of environmental pollution, even if they were to be affected by it in very immediate manner. Given the fact that citizens are now required to celebrate diversity, many of them take a full advantage of this social policy and simply dump garbage onto the street, in front of the projects, where they live, while justifying it by their allegiance to the cultural traditions of countries where they came from. In todays America, the gap between poor and rich continues to widen rapidly, which is why the majority of citizens could not be possibly concerned about protection of environment, as their foremost priority, since they have a hard time, while paying various mortgages and providing food to their families.
It is only those who have a lot of free time on their hands that can afford philosophizing about the importance of saving whales and seagulls. But even they can be hardly referred to as people who are truly concerned about the environment, since they do it simply to feel better about themselves. In Connecticut, there are no public beaches, because the whole states shoreline belongs to few rich people, who had built luxury mansions on it and erected a barbed wire fences along the shoreline, to prevent ordinary people from venturing into their private property. If anyone is to suffer from the possibility of oil spill in this state, it would a few moneybags, with the ordinary citizens actually being happy to see that. Ever since their time in elementary school, children are being taught that it their personal well-being, which they need to think of as their foremost priority. This is why; the majority of Americans simply cannot be instilled with collectivist mentality that implies the existence of common good, which stands above citizens personal agenda.
It does not matter whether world is going to be polluted beyond the point of recovery or not rich people will always be able to enjoy luxury living in little paradise islands. Therefore, it is conceptually wrong, on the part of environmentalists, to try to educate ordinary citizens on the subject of environmental awareness. Regular people are only concerned about having an access to bread and entertainment, just as it was the case in Roman Empire, before it was sacked by barbarians. If they were guaranteed that lifting the ban on offshore drilling would lower the gas price for even as little as few cents, people would overwhelmingly support such initiative. The only reason why many citizens appear as not being overly thrilled about lifting this ban is that American politicians were not able to take a full advantage of the fact that our troops are now occupying Iraq.
Instead of trying to educate Iraqis on the subject of democracy, which cannot be done in principle, American authorities in this country should have simply provided preconditions for the Iraqi oil to become the property of U. S. It is exactly the fact that gas prices did not go down, as the result of war in Iraq that Democrats in Senate were able to substantiate their unwillingness to allow offshore drilling. In his article Bush Lifts Ban on Offshore Oil Drilling, Waits on Congress, Jeff Berman says: While the White House contends that it's (offshore oil drilling) needed in order to drive down rising energy and transportation expenses, past presidents and Congress have opposed offshore drilling in order to protect beaches and coastal states. U. S.
Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi labelled this concept as a "hoax, " saying that the White House is echoing the demands of large oil companies because the move will not reduce gas prices or increase energy independence (Berman, p. 18). Nevertheless, the fact that Earth is being overpopulated and that there is simply not enough room under the sun for all, is not a hoax. Before the total depletion of oil deposits becomes a reality, American government needs to make sure that this nation is going to be in possession of extensive strategic reserves of this natural resource, as it will directly correspond to Americas ability to exercise a geopolitical influence on international arena in the future. It is perfectly understandable that Democrats strive to benefit on their ability to come up with populist statements; however, many of them simply lack the strategic vision of what is going to happen to this nation in fifty years from now. In his article The End Is Nigh: Peak Oil Proponent Forecasts Grim Future, Aaron Task quotes the co-author of Profit...
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