"The Fossil Fuel Alternative Energy Imperative Chapter 1" by Andrew Seal

Algeria, Angola, Canada, Colombia, Iraq, Mexico, Nigeria, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Venezuela. What do these countries have in common?

The list includes several countries that are described by the US State Department as having “long-term, protracted conditions that make a country dangerous or unstable.” The list includes countries that either languish at the bottom of or don’t even qualify for the Human Development Index. But most of all, this list constitutes the top 10 (83%) of all U.S. crude oil imports.

Oil is a destabilizing, and strategic, natural resource. It both props up totalitarian regimes and shapes U.S. foreign policy. The Strait of Hormuz is a perfect example of this. Located between Oman and Iran, the Strait of Hormuz connects the Persian Gulf with the Gulf of Oman and the Arabian Sea. According to the US Department of Energy’s Energy Information Administration “Hormuz is the world's most important oil chokepoint due to its daily oil flow of … roughly 40 percent of all seaborne traded oil.” Stationed immediately nearby is the US Navy’s 5th Fleet, which also serves as the headquarters of the Naval Component Command of US CENTCOM and is responsible for all naval combat operations in the Mid-East region.

While examples of this kind abound, the US has done little to wean itself from the Oligopolistic oil market, which is overwhelmingly dominated by OPEC (over half the above countries in the top 10 are OPEC member nations.) The strategic importance of and our addiction to this natural resource supports oppressive regimes and sends our fighting men and women to areas of the world they would not need be otherwise. We need to change this.

Start by walking and riding a bike, or use public transit whenever possible. If personal vehicle use is unavoidable in the short term, ensure that you carpool as often as possible, maintain your vehicle and properly inflate and rotate your tires. Electric vehicles are now becoming widely available for purchase at a variety of dealerships. As the world’s leading consumer of oil (approximately 20million barrels a day), we have a tremendous opportunity to create change.

Shifting the oil demand curve will lower prices and we can use that change in price to subsidize electronic vehicle and renewable energy infrastructure that will further foster decreased fuel prices and increase our leverage over the OPEC cartel while fostering the growth of American green jobs.

Decreasing demand for oil is the right thing to do and it’s the smart thing to do.

Sources:

http://tonto.eia.doe.gov/pub/oil_gas/petroleum/data_publications/company_level_imports/current/import.html

http://www.eia.doe.gov/cabs/world_oil_transit_chokepoints/Hormuz.html

http://www.eia.doe.gov/country/index.cfm?view=consumption

Andrew Seal Global MBA, 2012