Oil Addiction

What is it going to take to make a change in the current dependency on oil in this country?  Considering the cost of oil and the ecological problems that have occurred with the production of oil we need a change.  The past catastrophic event of the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico was a huge eye opener for a lot of Americans to see the impact that oil production has on the environment.  We have unfortunately long forgotten about the multiple past oil spills in the past.   Oil has become a necessary evil, with oil powering our transportation, heating our homes and being a tremendous danger to the environment to acquire.    

The United States is the biggest oil consumers on the planet using 20,680,000barrels a day and only producing 8,457,000barrells per day.  Because our dependency is more than our supply we have become dependent on other countries for our oil addiction and this can cost us in many ways.  We are taking money away from the economy of the United States and giving it to the economies of foreign countries to the detriment of America.  With the price of gasoline and heating oil at around the same price of $3.20 per gallon and rising, people are thinking twice about if the need to drive somewhere or heat their homes with oil.  The price of oil has a trickledown effect on the rest of the economy.  Even alternative heating sources rise with the price of oil such as wood.  The products we buy in stores get to people by transporting them which is costing more money so we are seeing increases in the prices of food and other products at our stores.  One solution is the importance to keep in mind to buy local food.  Local foods are most of the time healthier for you as well as the environment since it has to travel less to get to you.  Buying local also supports your local economy and gives less dependence on other countries for our survival. 

Living in a cold climate it is a necessity to have a warm home and most people find it crucial to have transportation so we need to find greener solutions to incorporate. We must ask ourselves if it is really necessary to be traveling at great distances on a regular basis, find others that can carpool with you or if the distance is close one can walk or ride a bike.  The transportation aspect is the place where corporations have a grip hold on the American people.  With the attempts at greener cars we still lack a solid solution that is effective enough to reduce gas consumption.  Throughout the United States there has been an increase of powering public transportation with bio-fuels or electricity but this doesn’t help the rural areas that cannot depend on public transportation. Throughout United States there has been an increase in wind power being incorporated for electricity which avoids oil consumptions.  At this time there is a not a lot of options for affordable wind power to be incorporated for individual usage.  Another way that we can use the environment for heat and electricity is through solar power which is more consumers friendly.  My only conclusion, buy local and stay local as much as you can.