how can we as americans, reduce our dependence on foriegn oil?

Question

I am looking for things we can change in our daily lives so that each of us can reduce the amount of oil that america as a whole needs

Answer 1

Construct a photovoltaic solar electrical generator on you home. You can power your house (and the power grid) and reduce your electric bill to zero.

Stop driving your car and ride a bike or take public transportation. Sell your car and buy a scooter that gets 100 MPG.

Replace all your light bulbs with the new low-energy florescent bulbs.

Turn down your thermostat. Insulate your home. Move into a smaller home. Move into a row home or condo. Sell your house and move into a high-rise apartment. The smaller your living space the less energy it takes to heat or cool it.

Answer 2

Why we are so dependent on foreign oil at all is beyond me. The USA has plenty of oil and gas, the problem is in the getting to it. Many oil drilling companies have their rigs stacked because it costs so much to drill. We are dependent upon foreign oil, because we get it cheaper, believe it or not, than our companies can drill, due to rules and regulations regarding impact on the environment, standards they have to meet, etc. The USA is sitting on possibly the world's largest oil deposit in Alaska, and environmentalists have been fighting tooth and nail to prevent drilling because access to the fields would transect the caribou migration path. There are many things that could be done to reduce the use of oil products. But oil greases the political wheels (Halliburton, anyone?) and prototype cars using other forms of energy languish. More could be done to advance solar and wind power in homes, but the costs remain prohibitive to most people. It could only help our whole economy if our drillers went back to drilling, if the government would give real incentives (instead of just lip service) and support to industries looking for alternatives to fossil fuels, and quit using a million gallons of diesel a day in Iraq. I, for one, am very, very tired of "what each of us" can do, when I think our government is doing very little, and what they do undermines the average citizen instead of helping.

Answer 3

reconsider our life style. we use way more fuel than any other country as a nation and as individuals. we buy too much crap, we use too much power, we drive huge cars. We use twice as much fuel as Europeans do...according to a book I just read called Deep Economy. turn down the heat and AC, turn out some lights, turn off the landscape lighting....it's gonna happen..it's just a question of when and whether you do it by choice or are forced by price or rationing.

Answer 4

enable's look at he genuine subject. the genuine subject is political, oil = undesirable photograph voltaic ability = solid coal = undesirable Windpower = solid nuclear = undesirable Hydrogen = solid ( in line with possibility ) Our society is provided around the so referred to as undesirable technologies and the recent technologies isn't extensively obtainable or low-value for many folk. At this factor we choose all our modern-day resourses and could choose them for the subsequent 50 - one hundred years as greater modern-day tech comes on line. One component of the communicate could cut back our modern-day resourses and attempt to stress conservation by using value and taxes. This hurts our economic device and actual delays destiny technologies. the different component desires to discover and develope our resourses on an identical time as the destiny ability sourses come as much as hurry and could become decrease priced. Now,the enormous Political Rub, the enviroment. modern-day tech = undesirable destiny tech = solid which ability no new nuclear ability flora,coal or oil fired flora would be geared up,yet we are residing in an electric society and hydrogen flora are a piece of the destiny. No new oil exploration,progression or ingredients interior the u . s .,ensuing in ever larger fees. I say drill now. pass a regulation asserting US produced oil and oil products can't be bought exterior the US. build new refineries,we are uploading sophisticated gasoline and paying the value. discover worldwide waters for ingredients of oil. build nuclear ability flora to grant the flexibility for electric autos and trucks. you won't be in a position to rush the destiny,it is going to likely be waiting on this is very own time table,no longer ours.

Answer 5

wind power, dams, solar, but big oil controls the USA. These will not be developed

Answer 6

Public transportation, carpool, walk, bike, hybrid car, there are a lot of thing we can do if push came to shove.

Answer 7

Vote Republican.

The only way to stop using foreign oil is to get it here. We need to drill Alaska, Florida, Texas and California.

Answer 8

Take public transit. Use less plastic.. take your own bags to the store.

Answer 9

buy an electric car