what are consequences of US's dependence/foreign oil?

Question

what are the consequences of the Us being dependent on foreign oil, and what should be done?
I just want some other peoples input on this topic
I understand for example if Saudi Arabia and OPEC would be controlled by the Taliban then we would have serious issues, and possibly a panic on prices and trading, it would damage our economy..
thanks for your opinions

Answer 1

Iraq war

Answer 2

The United States dependence on foreign oil will definitely have some short-term negative consequences. However, in the long-run, it will turn out to be an overall good thing. When the members of OPEC have exhausted their oil supplies, nations like the U.S. who have conserved a large part of the reserves by importing from OPEC nations may still have enough to fuel the economy until non-fossil fuel energy subsitutes can be developed.

Answer 3

You question can be answered from 2 angles:

1. Effect nationally

2. Effect internationally

I will pick #2 to answer.
An analogy is best to describe this: the scenario is like a group of coal miners getting trapped underground. As resources run out, they begin to kill and eat the weakest, etc... in order to survive.

The USA, being the most powerful and only superpower in the world, will eventually overrun all nations that have oil for their resources as the USA runs out of oil.

The consequences of this inevitable situation is basically a global loss of complete morality. It's just like how you read ppl on here all the time talk about America's justified MORAL behavior in occupying Iraq and eventually having Saddam killed.... the sad thing is that some ppl say this and don't even have a clue what is MORALLY wrong with it.

Answer 4

We purchase a product from Islamic nations and they turn around and use the wealth to propagate global Islamic rule. Because our nation is truly dependent on this product, we even defend those nations when an imperialist tyrant like Saddam Hussein attacks them. This involves us in messy situations in other lands where the American people have no grasp of the social and political realities. It is a fact that if we lost one or two major oil suppliers, this nation would come crashing down and many others, dependent upon us for food and medical supplies, would also suffer horribly. Thank goodness the Bush Administration has got us on the track to clean Hydrogen!!

Answer 5

The way the world is today.

Strategically US will have lots of oil left as a nation. But things that were done in the past for econmic reasons that were not the best ideas at the time are coming back to haunt now.

Overthrow of Iran Government = Shaw of Iran = Overthrow of Shaw by Aotla = Saddam = war Iran/Iraq = War Iraq/Kuwait = war US/Iraq = War again with Iraq - no more saddam = who knows whats next.

Same worked with Communism and cold war with Russia fighting in Afghanistan Taliban was supplied and trained to fight Russians, now we fight the Taliban.

Answer 6

First the Iraq war. Fighting Saddam was not just about morality (it was the moral thing to bring about regime change), but it was also about securing the oil supplies in the area. Not for us necessarily, but rather to prevent all the oil in the region being in the hands of one person.

In addition, at the time before the war, Saudi Arabia was under pressure from terrorist attacks. It looked like Saudi may fall to 'Islamic' fundamentalism, which though unlikely, was a possibility. If that had happened, the US, and the rest of the world would have been held to ransom by Islamic extremists.

Oil supplies have been threatened in the past - http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/686949.stm http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1973_oil_crisis

Second, it has resulted in the US (and to be fair, the rest of the west) turning a blind eye to the human rights abuses of Saudi Arabia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_rights_in_Saudi_Arabia#Human_rights_in_Saudi_Arabia
We in the west support a dictatorship in Saudi Arabia, while threatening to attack a democracy, Iran. (I am aware of the support Iran has for terrorists, but Saudi allows private sponsorship of terrorists under the guise of charities.)

As for what should be done, it is being done already. Alternative fuels are being used, notably, biofuel - http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/6294133.stm

Answer 7

The continuing dependence of the US on foreign oil will turn us into a third world country.

Answer 8

We have to buy oil from countries like Saudi Arabia, who channel the money to terrorists.

Answer 9

well, one consequence is the IRAQ war and the rest of the oil consuming world also pays for it indirectly through higher oil prices. what should be done is known but probably difficult to implement.America should reduce oil consumption .! it consumes much higher than the world average.of course it can and should accelerate alternate energy uses .

Answer 10

US has many reservoirs of oil still untouched because it is consuming oil from other lands such as Iraq and next will be Iran. It is after all the oil in other countries are consumed that US will use its own oil.