
Outside View: Energy independence is vital
Date: Wednesday, April 20, 2005 @ 21:37:28 UTC Topic: General
By Alon Ben-Meir
Outside View Commentator
New York, United States, Apr. 20 (UPI) -- For the United States not to urgently adopt a sound energy-independence policy would be tantamount to a national travesty. The increasing dependence on oil does not simply undermine America's economic health, it also could seriously threaten national security...
...(U.S. oil consumption grows by nearly 2 percent annually; in 2004, it increased by 2.7 million barrels a day.) In fact, some energy experts speculate that prices for a barrel of oil may sooner than later reach $100! The increasing importation of oil (currently, the United States imports 60 percent of the oil it consumes) has widened the trade gap by tens of billions of dollars a year, and the increase due to oil importation is rising.
In addition to this escalation in costs, the United States spends billions more on many military installations in the Middle East for the express purpose of protecting the flow of oil. However we slice it, America is falling deeper into an economic black hole, with the national debt hitting a record high. And there is no exit from this hole unless the addiction to fossil energy dependence is contained.
Read article at: http://washingtontimes.com
|
|