Environmental Issues

With the increasing depletion of the global sources, namely coal, oil and natural gas, the nations of the world are on an ever growing hunt for new resources to feed the hungry gas tanks and power facilities of the energy hungry developed countries in the world. The United States is not alone in this quest, being one of the biggest consumers of the precious yet rapidly disappearing resource, does not only have to tackle the depletion of the traditional sources of energy but also the political threats that may harm American security and access to the resources. At present, America has embarked on energy independence measures for this type of scenario, but are these enough

Energy Independence
The concept of energy independence will bring a host of different definitions from various sectors that are either directly or indirectly involved in the energy issue. Independence can be def8ned as a state that is free from the control of others. Thus, the phrase energy independence can be construed as a state policy that is liberated from the dominion and control of the major oil producers, such as Libya, Algeria and Saudi Arabia. But it must be noted the concept or idea of American energy independence did not evolve primarily as the result of the terrorist attacks nor the ensuing war. In 1974, then United States President Richard Nixon first hatched the idea of American security in its energy resources after the Arab oil embargo the year before, resulted in gas shortages in the United States, making Americans line up at long queues at filling stations. In a years time, the price of oil jumped four times in value, from the prevailing 3 to 12 a barrel. Nearly four decades ago, Nixon delivered what can be accepted as the definition of energy independence that the United States will not be dependent to any other nation for the provision of energy needed to create jobs, heat American homes, and to keep American transport moving (Da Solar, 2010).

In the aftermath of that unilateral embargo by some of the oil producing nations of the world, the concept of American energy independence enthralled the imagination of the public, but in the following decade, automobiles became more efficient in their use of gasoline, and with the increase of oil production worldwide, this created a supply glut for the commodity in the market. Soon after, oil prices began to stabilize at prices that were present before the Arab embargo and the imagination of Americans on energy independence soon waned into oblivion. But with the onset of the terror attacks on 911, the idea has once again taken center stage in the American mindset, shaping the policy directions of the new American generation (American Energy Independence, 2010).

American Energy Independence Can this become a reality or wishful dreaming
In the run up to the 2004 presidential elections, many of the candidates integrated unto their platforms the need for the United States to decrease its dependence on oil that is coming from across American shores. But many in the private sector are of the belief that the United States can be free from its dependence on foreign energy sources. In the opinion of Lee Raymond, then chair of the Exxon Mobil Corporation, the United States does not possess the large resource structure that will allow the country to wean itself away from its dependence on foreign oil. But then presidential candidates John Kerry and George Bush still trumpet American independence from foreign oil sources, with Bush taking the plank of domestic independence and Kerry talking about total independence from foreign energy sources (Tom Kenworthy, 2004).

But energy analysts dismiss such talk of energy independence as wishful thinking, holding an empty bag of promises to get votes come election day.  To the experts, such declarations need to be strengthened with radical policy decisions that will impact the manner that the United States  practices it energy policy. In his book, The End of Oil (2005), Paul Roberts avers that for a country that imports a huge amount of oil as the United States, the promise of getting America off its addiction to oil is simple political gimmickry. But why does the United States need to liberate itself from the clutches of oil, given that there are still hundreds of years worth of reserves, according to some in the industry, and with the discovery of new oil sources and technologies that can feed the economic machines of the world for quite some time  (Roberts, 2004)

The central argument is that the premise of the optimists is that these benefits are anchored on possibilities, on  if only  scenarios. The world would have enough oil supplies if only the OPEC stopped limiting their production if only Iranian insurgents would stop targeting their own pipelines, or if only drilling was allowed in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, and so forth. And the picture that the world still holds a vast amount of reserves is only in theory, or  theoretical oil . The other sources of oil may be more expensive to produce and more difficult to extract than the  easy  oil currently operating in the market (Roberts, 2004).

Making the wish come into reality
Many argue that the fear of many on American over dependence on foreign oil imports is nothing more than misguided fears and do not deserve any meritorious debate. There are two assertions on the fallacy that speaks about the debate on American energy independence. One, American energy independence will never be realized unless the American public is willing to revert back to the days of the 19th century. Two, the significant chunk of American imported oil are the imports from Canada and not from the Middle East. If the United States were to totally halt oil imports from the Saudis, Saudi Arabia would be severely affected as there is no country that can fill the void left by the United States in the market (Barbara Lerner, 2010).

At present, global oil consumption is reaching more than 85 million barrels per day. The United States consumes more than 20 million barrels per day, or 7 billion barrels per year. Americans were faced with a choice after the terror attacks on September 11, 2001. On one hand, the country could choose a future that is highly dominated by imported oil and the specter of wars and threats of terrorism. On the other, the United States could choose for independence from American oil and energy self sufficiency and a global market that is less stronger even with reduced usage of imported oil (Energy Independence, 2010).

From late 2007 through to 2008, the global economy experienced a shock following the transfer of  more than a trillion dollars from the economies in Europe, Asia and the United States to Middle Eastern countries to purchase their oil. The transactions proved to be the toxic pill that literally destroyed the global financial system, breaking open the derivatives market, more than  500 trillion of suspect wealth to collapse the international banking sector (Energy, 2010). Based on projections of the United States Department of Energy-Energy Information Administrations Short Term Energy Outlook for 2010, OPEC members will earn at least  767 billion for 2010 and 833 billion for 2011 (U.S. Energy Information Administration, 2010).
International efforts at energy independence

The problem of energy independence is not isolated to the United States, it involves the many nations of the world in preparation, implementation and sacrifice for all the nations concerned. The plans for energy independence need to be running before the resources of the world begin to be depleted. As the economies of the world are interconnected, so must the solutions be from the worlds leaders, even if the countries are of differing political philosophies, locations, traditions and ideologies must agree on the mechanics of a global market that is not too dependent on oil (Da Solar, 2010).

In Brazil, more than 30 years championing alternative fuels has resulted in filling stations in the country with pumps designed to provide only pure ethanol, a mix of gasoline and 20 of pure ethanol, called gasohol, and natural gas. By 2006, it is projected that Brazil will achieve energy independence, a dream that the United States has been craving to achieve with no success since the oil crisis in the 1970s. Brazil has also set in motion plans to transform sugar based ethanol into a world wide trading commodity. Companies in Brazil are pouring in an estimated 9 billion to new and existing sugar mills to accelerate production capacity while focusing on doubling exports of ethanol by 2010, with the intent of penetrating markets from Japan to Nigeria (David Lynch, 2006).

Energy analysts who want to copy the success of Brazil with ethanol and replicate the same in the United States willfully ignore the digressions in the energy markets of the United States and Brazil. Brazil, for one, is seen as the largest producer of ethanol in the world, but that is not true today. According to data from the Renewable Fuels Association, American ethanol production reached more than 4.8 billion gallons in 2006, compared with the 4.5 billion in Brazil (National Center for Policy Analysis, 2009). At present, ethanol production in the United States reached 10 billion gallons each year, as compared to the American gasoline consumption of 140 billion gallons per year (Energy, 2010).

In California, the California Hydrogen Highway Network is designed to locate hydrogen refueling stations so that motorists and fleets will have an easy access to these stations across the state. The conversion of a fourth of existing stations as outlined in the plan of Governor Schwarzenegger in Executive Order S-07-04, totaling 2,500 will incur an expense of 1,125 billion. But the present blue print only calls for 100 to 200 station conversions at a cost of roughly  100 to  200 million (Energy Independence Now, 2010).

In the final analysis, the only viable solution to the situation in the conduct of the United States to be independent in energy is to conduct more exploration activities in the country. These can be accomplished with the lifting of restrictions on exploration in Alaska and on the Outer Continental Shelf, with government estimates of more than 100 billion barrels, four times present reserves. It is not seen that the removal of dependence in oil imports as the solution. It is in the new actions in domestic oil production that can aid in the independence that the United States seeks than ethanol production (National Center, 2009).