Solving Our Addiction

Dear editor:

A while back the president said that the United States is addicted to oil. He is right, even though he left out the fact that the rest of the world, both industrial and developing nations are too. With the growth of population, the increased use of cars, and the worldwide increase of industry, we as a planet are using and needing more and more oil. The usage is an addiction that is similar to an alcoholic needing more whiskey or a drug addict needing more and more heroin. There is never enough and the need grows in leaps and bounds.

This addiction to oil is causing major financial problems for our country (and the rest of the world) and we are seeing not only the price of gasoline go through the roof, but the cost of everything we consume skyrocket in price. It effects our entire lifestyle. The sad part is that no end for this problem is in sight. This worldwide addiction is not only causing financial problems but is also causing increased global warming that threatens the future of our entire planet.

The president has suggested that one possible solution for the United States is by drilling for more oil in the Alaskan Wildlife Refuge and offshore of our coastline, thereby reducing our use of foreign, imported oil. He also said our nation can help its economy by everyone going shopping. Neither will help this addiction. Neither will it help the problem of global warming which has taken the administration seven and a half years to even admit that it exists. It also seems that the President and Vice-President fail to realize that additional “American oil” is part of a worldwide usage and we do not pay any less for domestic oil and gasoline than we do for imported oil. As a matter of fact, our country exports “American oil” to the rest of the world.

Last week he made a meaningless gesture of lifting executive orders banning the drilling of oil off our shorelines. In order for this to be effective Congress must also pass a law lifting this ban, which is very doubtful. He, along with Sen. McCain’s very vocal agreement, has made this a political calling.

But what does more oil do for the addiction to oil usage? It doesn’t solve it, but rather feeds it with more supply. If someone is addicted to alcohol would you increase their supply of booze as a solution to their problem? If a friend was addicted to crack cocaine or heroin would you stop their addiction by making it more available and easier to get by increasing the supply, and therefore lowering the price? Of course not. That is complete idiocy and makes the problem worse instead of possibly helping the addict.

Our one and only solution is to break our addiction by developing and using other methods for energy instead of fossil fuels. If we want to stop our flow of dollars out of the country and into the hands of oil rich Arab states, help our economy and stop destroying our planet with global warming, we must start using alternate means of powering our world. And we must start NOW. We must show the rest of the world that we are once again a leader instead of a follower. Drilling and shopping won’t do it.