Student Post: Concerns with Oil Production

One of the major issues covered during the previous two class periods has been oil production.  It has been put forth that the United States, as well as the world, needs to trim its oil consumption and begin transfer to another source of energy.  No matter what that energy source may be now or in the future, there are issues with making that change. 

There are two issues that need to be put forward in terms of changing our energy standards.  First, there is limited oil yet to be discovered.  The Earth is a finite place, and oil is a finite product that takes millions of years to form.   Besides some of the recent finds, like the Bakken formation, oil production will stop.  That point may come 10, 20, or 100 years from now, and if we are not prepared this country could return to the dark ages. 

Making substantial energy policy changes will force the hand of many people, and it will ruffle some feathers.  Economic idealists will argue that when the demand comes, renewable energy resources will take over as the dominant commodity.  That may be true, but what happens if those products are unavailable to us. 

This brings me to my second point.  Why not spend the money developing renewable energy while we can afford it?  Most of the products we take for granted are made from petroleum products.  Lubricants, gasoline, paraffin wax, polymers including plastics, and diesel fuel are all created from petroleum.  At some point this will go away unless there is innovation in the field.  

This poses a major problem for the future.   If we come to a point that oil production reaches its downfall, the prices of production will be too great and the market will suffer.  Innovation today requires electricity and production capabilities.

However, production requires lubricants and fuel to power the production plants, and oil, gas, and coal represent a large majority of the electricity production in this country.   The current necessities of production need fossil fuels to survive.

Oil production is important to our society.  It is the lifeblood of the United States.  Manufacturing renewable resources now will save money for the consumer in the future.  While it should be the impetus of the individual consumer to protect themselves from harm, the wholesale changes cannot come from one person.  

A change will come someday when the oil market crashes.  Depending on how we approach the future, the crash landing will either be a little bumpy or catastrophic.