America’s Reliance on Fossil Fuels

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In 1908, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) predicted that the total future supply of U.S. oil would not exceed 23 billion barrels. In 1914, the U.S. Bureau of Mines predicted that only 5.7 billion barrels of oil remained. In 1920, the USGS proclaimed the peak in U.S. oil production was almost reached. In 1939, the Department of Interior declared that there was only 13 years of oil production remaining. In 1977, President Jimmy Carter claimed, “We are now running out of oil.” Despite these predictions, the U.S. has produced over 200 billion barrels of oil since the early 1900’s. (The Futurist, 1997) Coal is by far the most abundant of fossil fuels, and will be available for much longer than oil. Having been harvested and burned since the 13th century, a massive infrastructure has been formed to quickly and efficiently mine, deliver, and burn coal. Coal is also the cheapest of fossil fuels (The Futurist, 1997) Because fossil fuels will still be around years from now, and there is no immediate threat to our current lifestyle, does that mean we, as humans, will continue to rely on fossil fuels in the future? If we decline to change our values and ideas, the answer is yes. Fossil fuels will remain a primary source of energy because of a few very fundamental concepts. The first of these is simple: why change what isn’t currently broken? The U.S. has been using oil for a large portion of our energy need since the early 1900’s. Since then, the U.S. has used oil more and more each year as we research more efficient ways to harvest, transport, and burn it. The only way the United States will shift away from oil is if a better energy source arises or oil causes more complications than convenience. “The iron age didn’t end because the world... ... middle of paper ... ... the South quit the Union was Congress able to act. In 1862, in the midst of a civil war and with only half a country from which to draw resources, work began.” (Stein, 2006) The United States needs to make up it’s mind now on renewable resources, and it needs to make up it’s mind fast. Works Cited Stein, Steve. "Breaking the Oil Habit." Policy Review 138(2006):53. eLibrary. Web. 03 Dec. 2013. Clynes, Tom. "The Energy 10 STEP TO END AMERICA'S FOSSIL-FUEL ADDICTION." Popular Science. 01 Jul. 2006: 47. eLibrary. Web. 03 Dec. 2013. "The Future of Energy." Futurist 31. (1997) eLibrary. Web. 04 Dec. 2013. Jenner, Mark. "ENERGY CONSUMPTION REALITY CHECK." BioCycle 9(2012):53. eLibrary. Web. 04 Dec. 2013. Socolow, Robert., Hotinski, Roberta., Greenblatt, Jeffery B., Pacala, Stephen.. "SOLVING THE CLIMATE PROBLEM." Environment10(2004):8. eLibrary. Web. 11 Dec. 2013.

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