1. 1) The trade deficit: More than half of the 40.2 billion dollar trade deficit is due to oil imports according to The Economist 2009 data. Oil dependency is now more of a threat to the trade imbalance than China’s devaluation of its currency. And of course this is during a recession when consumption is curtailed, in 2008 the figure was even higher. As our economy continues to recover it may be inhibited by creeping oil prices. As long as the price of oil continues to rise so too will the trade deficit even if exports of American goods increase. Our economy is vulnerable to oil shocks.
2. 2) National Security in Danger: So where is our supply of oil coming from? In 2008, the US imported 856,329 barrels of crude oil from the Persian Gulf, 550,276 from Saudi Arabia alone. That means that nearly a quarter of the 3,580,694 barrels of imported oil came from the Persian Gulf and 15% of the total came from Saudi Arabia alone. More than half of oil imported came from the OPEC cartel. The average price of oil for 2008 was $91.48 per barrel. So approximately 78 million dollars went to the Persian Gulf, 50 million going to Saudi Arabia alone. Venezuela received 35 million American dollars and Nigeria received 31 million. This level of dependency allows OPEC and more specifically the Persian Gulf to have undue influence over US foreign policy. Oil wealth may be used by individuals or governments to sponsor terrorism. Furthermore, oil wealth has helped prop up authoritarian regimes in Venezuela, Nigeria and throughout the middle east. States will often use oil wealth to buy off their citizens or suppress them. America’s oil addiction limits US foreign policy, places American lives at risk, and supports the oppression of people in oil producing nations.
3. 3) We cannot drill our way out: America has 3% of the world’s proven reserves and consumes more than a quarter of the world’s supply. Even if we drill offshore and in the arctic wildlife refuge there is no way the US can be energy independent on oil alone.
4. 4) Natural gas is not a permanent fix: Natural gas, like all fossil fuels is a nonrenewable resource that will also one day be exhausted. An expensive conversion to a natural gas infrastructure will only delay the inevitable, a peak in domestic natural gas production followed by reliance on Russia and the Middle East. This is comparable to switching to light cigarettes, just as unhealthy, just as addictive and just as expensive.
5. 5) Pollution: Fossil fuel extraction is a highly destructive process. Throughout the Appalachians the tops of mountains are being removed, destroying forests. The refuse from such removals is then thrown into the surrounding rivers and streams. Pollutants from coal power plants including arsenic, cadmium and manganese from accumulated coal ash and scrubber sludge have poisoned rivers, streams and municipal groundwater supplies. In 2008 1.1 billion gallons of coal ash spilled in Harriman Tennessee, covering 300 acres and destroying 40 homes. Natural gas extraction has created similar problems with holding ponds leaking or spilling, spewing toxins into the environment. Drilling in the NYC watershed is particularly troubling. Fossil fuels are dirty for their entire life cycle, from extraction to the point of use where air quality suffers.
6. 6) Fossil fuels do not operate in a free market: the US government heavily subsidizes Fossil fuels. According to the Environmental Law Institute, from 2002-2008 fossil fuels received a total of 72.5 billion in subsidies. 53.9 billion of that consisted of tax breaks, 16.3 billion in direct payments and 2.3 billion for carbon sequestration. In comparison, traditional renewable energy received a mere 12.2 billion in total subsidies. Ethanol received 16.8 billion. And this does not even account for US protection of oil interests in the Middle East. In order for clean energy to compete with fossil fuels in a free and fair market, these subsidies must be removed entirely or fairly divided.
7. 7) Ethanol is not solution: First, corn ethanol competes with the food supply, driving prices up. Second, it requires energy to make it. Third, petroleum is still used in a variety of pesticides and fertilizers to grow these products. All of these factors have made it debatable whether ethanol can even produce an energy net gain. It has been estimated that if all US cars switched over to corn-based ethanol, 97% of US land area would need to be converted. Clearly this is not sustainable or workable. Although waste products and switch grass may be more practical, for the time being ethanol should be shelved, its subsidies cut.
8. 8) Renewable energy will create jobs: In Germany, the German Renewable Energy Sources Act has created over 200,000 jobs. The share of renewables in energy production doubled in only 6 years. This act should be a model for the US where jobs are badly needed, especially in the rust belt. It could even be done on the state level at first as an experiment.
9. 9) Everyone else is doing it: Germany is not the only country that is entering the new green collar economy; other European Union nations as well as China and India are entering it as well. China has been aggressively protecting its growing green tech industry. The US risks being left behind and being less competitive in the global economy.
10. 10) Renewable energy builds a more resilient prosperous society: Renewable energy can be produced locally and in a less centralized fashion. Imagine having a solar or wind generator on your roof producing most if not all of your power needs. Imagine if your home was part of a network. This network would allow you to purchase energy from the grid when you require additional power and sell it the grid when you produce a surplus. There is not necessarily a need for centralized power plants although there will be a place for them unquestionably, at the very least supplementing local, residential power production. Imagine being your own producer as well as consumer, power outages are a rarity, there is less of an infrastructure for terrorists to target, pollution from centralized fossil fuel plants is eliminated. Local control over energy will reduce cost and empower local communities. The more power one produces, the less one consumes, the more potential surplus profits. This would encourage further clean production and reduced consumption.
