August 03, 2010
The False Sense of Security in the Gulf
More than 100 days after the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig exploded in the Gulf of Mexico, efforts to seal the worst oil spill in U.S. history are causing a sense of security that noted University of Nebraska Asst. Prof. Adam J. Liska warns is false comfort. In a piece published today by McClatchy-Tribune News Service, Prof. Liska points out “there’s a quieter crisis in the other gulf – the Persian Gulf – that should call American’s attention to the even more severe consequences of relying upon imported oil.”
Defense Department costs of protecting oil shipping lanes through the Persian Gulf total more than $50 billion annually – oil’s hidden cost to taxpayers. And these costs do not include the nearly 20 years of continual warfare we have seen in the Middle East, driven by a policy of access to oil. There are also environmental costs to consider: for every billion dollars spent in military activity to access oil in the Middle East, U.S. military operations emit a staggering 289,000 tons of carbon dioxide.
There is an alternative. Domestic ethanol is at least 59 percent cleaner than conventional gasoline. Domestic ethanol creates U.S. jobs by keeping American money in the American economy, instead of shipping it overseas. Domestic ethanol strengthens our national security by reducing our dependence on foreign oil.
Read Liska’s latest piece here.
