Is the Oil crisis Good?

[Common Sense aka Science]

Many environmentalists think that the oil crisis is good, because it prompts for alternative energy, and makes people drive less. What do you think?

[Yes] [No]
Now Scroll down for my opinion.
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Did you answer yet?
Anyways...
Here's an article I found on the web which explains my point, so I don't have to.

The oil crisis, a giant worldwide problem concerning the supply of oil versus its demand, has created famine, drought, and economic instability all over the world. It started when the United States banned offshore and inland drilling for oil because of environmental reasons.
The ban was initiated in 1981 and is still in effect now. This ban on offshore and inland drilling has effectively limited the US’s supply of oil, and let other countries take more international power because of their oil supply, and therefore oil money. These countries include Venezuela, Russia, and Iran, which are enemies of the United States.
Many in the “Western Bubble” complain that higher oil prices limit their driving, but there is a much darker side to this issue.
Since oil prices have gone up worldwide, so has the price of food. That’s because in modern agriculture, pesticides and fertilizer are used almost all the time, and both contain oil in them. Machines used for growing and harvesting, such as tractors, rely on oil to run.
People in developing countries have a lot less money than those in the United States and other Western countries. The rise in oil has put many farmers in these countries out of business and left millions more, who can now no longer afford basic foods, hungry. Even if some farmers manage to scrap together something to sell, the price of going to a market and selling it cuts most of their profit due to the increased cost of travel.
Water in Africa has already been an issue for a long time, but with the rising cost of oil, this problem has been aggravated to a new extent. Pumping water is done with oil-using pumps, and so now many places in Africa can’t afford water either.
Economies all over the world are having their growth stop and are facing recession and poverty due to rising oil prices. The increase in the price of oil increases the cost of many plastics, which are petroleum based. Also, it takes more money to run factories, so workers get payed less for the same amount of work.
Many people in the West think that we should develop alternative sources of energy, like solar, hydro, and ethanol. The two major problems with this idea are that, first of all, developing countries that can’t afford oil hav no chance of affording these much more expensive alternatives, and second, that ethanol has contributed to the problem substantially.
Ethanol is made from corn, which is a commonly grown food universally. By turning corn into Ethanol, you are taking food from those who can’t afford it and turning into fuel for those who can. You can’t eat fuel.
This is a grave worldwide tragedy, and needs to be ended not through “cleaner” sources of energy, but by more drilling in the United States. Many environmentalists complain that drilling in places like the Arctic National Wildlife Reserve (ANWR) kills wildlife such as polar bears.
So, which will it be: Polar Bears or poor, starving people?

[JamesM]

Erm... common sense is to continue with the technologies which have created global warming? Which is alleged to be causing... floods, droughts, freak weather patterns etc... erm... little short sighted really.

Erm... possibly common sense aka science = short term thinking and solutions which create/risk greater problems in the long run.

I rather like this one Global warming meant to be causing the polar ice cap to melt globally acknowledged as a bad thing and what to countries do? Promptly plant flags all over the polar landscape so they can obtain more of the resources which created the industry technologies which caused the polar ice cap to melt in the first place.

Brilliant isn't it, polar ice cap melting is bad, oohhh look there's lots more resources available lets go and stick a flag on it to claim them. The irony is killingly brilliant.

I think with GW, a world wide problem, the solutions have to be a little better thought through and with the long term, thoroughly in focus.

Want a short term solution send water and any of those food mountains which are lying around rotting. It'd only cost the transport and would ease the suffering while longer term solutions which don't cause GW are put in place.

Just my opinion but probably right : )

[LMagic007]

I think the world only has itself to blame for the oil crisis and broader environmental crisis we seem to face. I think part of the challenge going forward, is for man to accept that environment and the way we manage it, is now seen an influential economic factor. If the "oil crisis" is managed well and we evolve renewable technologies that eventually may offer the world a better standard of living, then I think one could say on balance it's a good thing.

I think developing countries such as in Africa, stand to benefit the most from renewable energy like solar and wind and there is plenty of evidence to suggest that. The beauty of solar and wind energy ( to name a few ) is that;

- it can easily be scaled up incrementally.
- it can easily be deployed in a distributed network at reasonable cost.
- affordable low tech and assisted high tech solutions can be applied to regional and rural communities.
- infrastructure capitalisation costs are miniscule compared to centralised electrical power distribution.

Its drawbacks are that;
- energy needs to be stored and that will cost more, however bear in mind that many developing countries especially in rural areas, don't have high quality power supply as it stands, if at all, so renewables like solar and wind can actually add value and improve their energy networks, even though they may not meet western industrialised nations standards. Rural communities in developing nations that previously had no access to electricity now do have access, thanks to distributed solar and wind power.

Thus, with western assistance solar and wind energy of varying forms, can be made affordable for developing nations and there is evidence that this is occurring. As the saying goes though, enough is never enough.

Solar power: cheap energy source for Africa

[JamesM]

I agree LMagic007, with the additional economic benefit that the energy source is absolutely and utterly free.

This has a dual advantage that as the energy source does not have to be bought nations which adopt such new technologies will not put themselves in the pockets of supplier nations as has been done with oil and gas.

Anyone enjoying the USA and Middle East stand off over who's going to pump the additional oil from their reserves to bring the price of crude down?

[JamesM]

Ps.

The style of the email reminds me of an internet circular some years ago involving Churchill, Hitler and Roosevelt. It went something like this three men one is an alcholic warmongerer, the other a philandering criminal and the last is a teetotal dog lover.

Does any have a copy of it as I can't find a copy on the web.

Just in case anyone wonders I drink and I don't have a criminal record : ) but having had to deal with one bunch of frothy mouthed nutters there is no way in the world I am going into politics, not even if God asked me to.

[prashamk]

Originally Posted by JamesM

Ps.

The style of the email reminds me of an internet circular some years ago involving Churchill, Hitler and Roosevelt. It went something like this three men one is an alcholic warmongerer, the other a philandering criminal and the last is a teetotal dog lover.

Does any have a copy of it as I can't find a copy on the web.

Just in case anyone wonders I drink and I don't have a criminal record : ) but having had to deal with one bunch of frothy mouthed nutters there is no way in the world I am going into politics, not even if God asked me to.

None one can do that. I have a COPYRIGHT on that joke

[August]

Originally Posted by JamesM

Brilliant isn't it, polar ice cap melting is bad, oohhh look there's lots more resources available lets go and stick a flag on it to claim them. The irony is killingly brilliant.

I think with GW, a world wide problem, the solutions have to be a little better thought through and with the long term, thoroughly in focus.

What is even more brilliant is the fact that, although we've all been force fed with bad information on the state of things, as concerns CO2 levels in the atmosphere and resulting global warming - among other factors, a by-product fossil fuels consumption - the ordinary consumers' demand for oil is on a steady rise. It's like: "NO!!! We refuse to listen! And we certainly refuse to learn!"

[linktree]

I think that the oil crisis is good, start using your legs!!!