foreign oil addiction

Is reducing dependence on foreign oil a necessity?

We have to seriously consider our oil addiction for the sake of our economy, our security, and the environment. It’s no secret that oil is America’s drug of choice and our dependency on black gold is a very difficult one to kick. Democrats are raising interesting questions about energy and resources. Are we going to be at war indefinitely until we’ve acquired or made pacts with every nation that controls precious minerals and resources?

Republicans hate discussing the environmental aspects of it all, but I’ve seen a number of conservatives consider global warming issues and pollution when Democrats aren’t around to rub it in. I know that Republicans care about the planet, fresh air, and more importantly: God’s green earth. I don’t care what brings them to the bargaining table, if it’s God or profit, the conversation has to happen.

As far as oil dependency and our dependence on foreign sources of energy, we need new ways of resolving the problem that don’t involve war. The U.S. military has been in Iraq for some time now and it’ll probably remain there in some capacity for the remainder of our lives. Consider the fact that war doesn’t just cost trillions of dollars, it costs American lives. It disrupts American families, leads to higher divorce rates, broken homes, violence, mental illness, death, and homelessness. The cost of War is very high and if Americans are right that we’re continuing to put ourselves in bad situations overseas over oil rather than human rights, then we need to do something about this problem.

This war *will* continue to follow us home as long as we continue playing commando overseas. An eye for an eye, my religion says. Well, Islam teaches much of the same, although the Q’uran is much more accepting of using violence to defend against injustice. Like it or not, we’ve been engaged in a religious war for much longer than we’ve been at war in Iraq. If this is true because we’re so reliant on oil, then we need to start filtering money into the sciences so that we can develop new forms of energy. It’s no easy task of course, because our government and election system is completely tainted by corporate and oil special interest money.

That said, we can take baby steps to get away from the addiction and maybe we should find ways to encourage our oil companies to explore new avenues of producing energy. Of course I don’t have the answers to all the worlds problems, no one does, but we have to start somewhere. Maybe Kucinich / Paul in 2008 would be a good start?

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HjiGuOsKr04[/youtube]

It might be the only shot the U.S. has at leaving Iraq, ending the War and redefining American policy interests at home and abroad. Addiction to oil and its affect on foreign policy is a serious threat to national security! It’s one of the motivating factors behind terrorist hate and violence towards Americans and it gives their leadership the fuel they need to motivate their forces.

Fred Soto is an Attorney and Entrepreneur from the Silicon Valley.
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