Trailing only
Norway, Australia and The Netherlands, The United States is currently
ranked fourth on The Human Development Index (measures standard of
living). Even at fourth place, when a man or woman living in the US
looks around, he or she may have a plethora of luxuries. Many
families in the US have more than one car, heating and central
cooling throughout their house, multiple appliances, and even
wireless Internet. And as many US citizens live this life of lavish,
very few people really think about how the way we live impacts the
very planet on which we reside. Very few people even ask if the lives
we live are even sustainable. This high standard of living is a
relatively new phenomenon. The many luxuries we could not live
without such as light bulbs, flushable toilets, air condition, and
cars all were either invented or became standard in most households
in just the past 200 years.
Oil is the
foundation to the lives we live today. Without oil and fossil fuels,
the lives we live would not be possible. Food for instance, is
something that we all need to survive, but with out oil most people
in the US cannot obtain it. To eat we all usually go to a restaurant
or grocery store. Nonetheless, before that food gets to the grocery
store or restaurant, it must be shipped from its place of harvest.
Unless a person knows how to grow cattle or how to grow fruits and
vegetables, they are not eating without oil.
This may not seem
that bad, until we all acknowledge the fact that fossil fuels are a
finite resource. There is a theory called Hubbert’s Peak that
states that we may have depleted over half of the world’s fossil
fuels back in the year 1995. And because we are producing and using
more gasoline and oil than we were in years past, the decline after
the peak is extremely steep. As fossil fuels become scarcer, this
current era that we call the “information age” may only be
sustainable to everyone for only twenty to thirty more years. With
less than one percent of people in the United States being farmers,
we would all have to learn how to hunt and or grow our own food,
bringing us back into another agricultural age. In a worst-case
scenario, we could all find ourselves living in “Book of Eli”-esque
world. This could be avoided if the search for sustainable
alternative energy sources is successful, and it has not been in the past.
The biggest problem
that we face with oil right now is the fact that it is so cheap and
under valued. When you think about how much it costs to get from
place to place, its really crazy. Journeys that used to take people
days or weeks to complete now can all be done in hours, all because
of gasoline, which only costs about $4-$5 a gallon. Think about how
much it would cost for you to pay someone to carry you to your
destinations. There’s no way a large cup of coffee at Starbucks
should cost more than a gallon of gas. One day we will run out of
oil, but we all value it and use it as if it were infinite. The
alternatives we have found to fossil fuels have either been too
expensive or do not have the same type of volume as fossil fuels.
Right now, we as a human race have become too dependent on fossil
fuels. It may be imposable to find alternatives before the supply
runs out.
Solid post Malik, It provides a very well rounded view of the topic
ReplyDeleteThis information leads me to believe that we need to start investing in electric car companies. Thank you for the heads up! Also I feel that that the gas companies could still lower their prices, but they're getting such a great profit that they don't want too.
ReplyDeleteAgree with Benjamin, Mr. Sapp Very good job and Very Informative
ReplyDeleteIt is scary how we use finite resources as if they were infinite. Whenever the breakthrough happens where an alternative infinite resource for oil proves to be just as efficient, I will be jumping ship. This post helps bring awareness to the issue and it quite informative. Good post!
ReplyDeleteWell put Edwin. If we take a look at the idea of finite resources from a holistic standpoint, we can see that this is a problem that continues to be a key factor in society today. Society should begin to use alternative sources of energy that will be sustainable and long-lasting. This can ultimately create jobs and more opportunities for the human race.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Martavius. Society needs to immediately find alternatives sources of energy that will be sustainable. Also investing in electric car companies can save our environment. We would not have to worry about air pollution being as bad and global warming would be less likely to take place which leads to tropical storm disasters, melting of ice glaziers, and smog.
ReplyDeleteIt was some great insight. I really feel that we need to start saving our oil. We need to start investing on things that do not need oil.
ReplyDeleteGreat post about our status in the Human Development Index. It is important that we know about our alternative resources and learn how we can start exploiting them to the public.
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ReplyDeleteThis was a very informative post and it is alarming how freely we use finite resources and how if we continue at the pace we are at, then they might not be present in the near future. I agree that we must look more into alternative sources of energy and I could see later down the road much more people utilizing electric cars as opposed to cars that operate off of gasoline.
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