Archive for the 'Foreign Policy and Energy' Category

As discussed before in this blog, alternative energy is not only an economic and environmental issue. Ending our dependence on foreign oil is the best thing we can do for the citizens of oil-rich countries who are ruled by dictators. Thomas Friedman couldn’t said any better than this:

“As long as the monarchs and dictators who run these oil states can get rich by drilling their natural resources – as opposed to drilling the natural talents and energy of their people – they can stay in office forever. They can use oil money to monopolize all the instruments of power – army, police, and intelligence – and never have to introduce real transparency or power sharing. All they have to do is capture and hold the oil tap. They never have to tax their people, so the relationship between ruler and ruled is highly distorted. Without taxation, there is no representation.” – Thomas Friedman from The World is Flat

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Posted by Tim Roth, author of the political blog Think Anew and Act Anew

You may have already heard about this story, but here’s a short article from CNN Money that nicely summarizes the corrosion problem in the Alaskan oil pipeline. The article also gives a quick and very informative briefing on how events in the Middle East may affect oil prices in the future.

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Posted by Tim Roth, author of the political blog Think Anew and Act Anew

I came across an article on Yale Global Online (a publication of Yale University’s Center for the Study of Globalization) about oil’s effects on global politics. The article gave many examples of how oil-hungry countries have turned a blind eye to problems with oil-rich developing countries because of diminishing global oil reserves. Because these oil-hungry countries fear the economic damage from a potential oil embargo, developing countries are able to get away with questionable activities like human rights violations.

I want to highlight one part of the article that I found deeply disturbing regarding Sudan and China. I had heard of this story a while back, but this article explained the situation very well. The explosive growth of China’s economy has naturally led to huge surge in oil imports. This thirst of oil has led China to form partnerships with notorious countries like Sudan. This very poor country has gotten a lot of attention the past couple years due to the genocide and war crimes in the Darfur region of western Sudan. The stories coming out of Darfur are of unimaginable cruelty and world community reaction (or lack thereof) to this crisis has also been disturbing. One key explanation for this relative inaction is the actions of China in the United Nations during a December 2004 UN Security Council debate. The US delegation was pushing for sanctions against the Sudanese government for aiding militia groups accused of rape, torture, and murder. Because of their oil partnership, China was willing to use their permanent seat on the Security Council to veto the strong resolutions proposed by the US. Sadly, the result of these threats were weakened resolutions against the Sudanese government. Leaving out the pros and cons of the United Nations (that’s worth an entire separate blog), what China did was simply immoral.

While I’m focusing on China, this story is part of a disturbing pattern: oil is a curse upon our entire world. The benefits to our country are clear, but energy independence would actually be more beneficial to people of oil-rich countries. By taking away petrodollars, countries like Iran, Syria, Sudan, Saudi Arabia would be forced to improve their economic, educational, and political institutions. Imagine how many lives would be improved with energy independence.

The past couple weeks of bloodshed in Lebanon and Iraq are clear evidence that change in the Middle East is badly needed. Now is the time to lift the curse of oil and help create a better America, a better Middle East, and a better world for future generations.

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Posted by Tim Roth, author of the political blog Think Anew and Act Anew

This title is probably the last thing you want to hear right now, especially if you recently filled up your tank and are wondering what happened to all that cash that was in your wallet.

The price of gas these days has become painful, that’s not exactly breaking news. Unfortunately, here’s the really bad news: the price of oil and gas will only increase and we are on the express train to a global oil crisis.

1. Oil reserves are becoming harder and harder to find and gather.

2. China, India, and much of the developing world are growing their economies at impressive rates. With all this development, they want a piece of the good life pie that America and developed world have been enjoying. Â They want to have cars and use energy consuming appliances. The appetite of these countries for oil, especially China, is staggering. The fundamental economic law of supply and demand will only drive the price of oil higher.

3. Sadly, turmoil in the Middle East continues so oil supply disruptions are still a very real threat.

4. Hurricane forecasters are predicting another brutal hurricane season and storms are only getting stronger. After the one-two punch of Katrina and Rita last year, it’s clear that refineries along the Gulf Coast region and the oil rigs in the Gulf of Mexico are vulnerable to these monster storms. When refineries are damaged, it doesn’t much what the price of crude oil is when barrels of crude oil can’t be processed into gas.

Here’s the bottom line: if we continue with the status quo we are setting ourselves up for a disaster.

The only way to prevent a devastating oil crisis is to start using alternative energy and start driving more fuel-efficient cars. One way to get this done is through high gas prices. I’m not talking about waiting for market forces to double the price of gas, I’m talking about making gas prices artificially high through a heavy gas tax. Proceeds from this gas tax can be marked for developing the technology to help kick the oil habit and for offsetting any economic damage in the form of tax breaks based on income and the small business community. Expensive gas will also mean that alternative fuels and energy technology will become competitive.

Yes, a steep gas gas tax would be painful, but we can either have a considerable amount of pain now or a devastating amount of pain down the road. I’m definitely not the only person saying this right now. There is a growing chorus of experts that are much smarter than myself who believe high gas taxes are fundamental to a more promising future. America’s citizens and elected officials have a choice to make. History will judge all of us on how we handle this crucial problem.

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Posted by Tim Roth, author of the political blog Think Anew and Act Anew