Energy Consumption & Dependence on Oil

The writers' hypothesis in this article is clear, though they do not specifically state it. We need to get off our dependence on oil as an energy source for economic, civil and environmental reasons. The point is important because everyone is aware that oil reserves cannot last forever, and take thousands of years to renew, so alternatives energy sources need to be found now, before we do run out. The authors do not present a great deal of evidence. Rather, they present a summary, an overview of the situation. More detail would have made the essay more hard-hitting and made more of an impression on the reader. As it stands, the paper really just gives a glossed-over view of the situation and does not go into depth on any of the major issues presented. The paper gives sweeping overviews not backed up by any evidence. It would serve well as an introduction tp the topic, but does not stand alone as an in-depth analysis of the situation, as would be expected from the title.

The paper tries to compare energy consumption now to what it was in the pre-industrial era, which is an absolutely useless comparison. No one would expect energy consumption now to bear any relationship to pre-industrial times. Of course the world has changed, and of course it has developed, and populations have grown, so of course energy demands are higher. They would have been even without industrialization. The writers present a graph showing the rise in energy consumption of different types

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ies were threatened did America take action against these countries. For years, they supported Saddam Hussein, and armed him, as long as they got the oil they wanted. Their attack on Iraq was partly so they could establish a major military base in the Middle East to protect their sources of oil. They didn't attack the Taliban until they reneged on a deal to protect the pipeline through Afghanistan. Britain joined the Iraq war in part to protect her oil interests there. However, the authors don't discuss any of this in their paper. They just make inferences but provide no facts or evidence for the interference by the great powers. Since they are discussing the situation in 2005, one would think these factors would be highly relevant and included in any discussion of oil security. Under natural resources curse they refer to how the mineral wealth of a country often supports corruption and slows economic growth and development, as can be seen in most of the oil- producing nations. They also accuse these nations of using the wealth from natural resources to keep the people from demanding democracy by keeping taxes low and providing many benefits to them. Again, they don't go into any detail. All they do is give a list o

Category: Misc - E