Seattle Press on Line - I Demand Higher Oil Prices...

Sandy Bradley's Potluck

I Demand Higher Oil Prices...

By Sandy Bradley

Jan 11, 2001 -- ...Because keeping oil prices low benefits the petroleum industry. It widens the gap between renewable energy setup costs and underpriced oil.

After all, if oil gets too expensive, alternative energy technologies will draw eager investors. Once these new technologies are developed, there will be no temptation to endanger the Alaska Wildlife Refuge by drilling there for a six-month supply of oil for the United States. Our cars would no longer pump pollutants into the air, but would use hydrogen, with water as the sole emission.

Germany is already implementing the conversion to clean energy by investing in hydrogen plants in North Africa. Perfect! If hydrogen is used as fuel in North Africa itself, the by-product, water, can irrigate arid land. The hydrogen fuel produced for export can be transported through the pipelines now used by nearby oil refineries to serve most of Europe.

Low oil prices are stopping us from creating similar win-win systems, making us dependent on foreign oil producers--and that's a primary justification for our fat military budget. Hydrogen technology promises a democratization of energy, and may make local independent economies not only possible, but practical.

Calculate how much you spend annually on gas and oil. Double that amount to reflect the approximate actual cost of your oil use to the world, and invest that amount in renewable energy development. You'll be saving the world from oil pollution and energy monopolies, and probably turning a tidy profit as well.

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