Alternative Fuel Sources Post 2

   I recently found an interesting article that discusses how Obama set a goal for America to reduce oil imports by one-third by the year 2025. While it's nice that President Obama has set a fairly realistic goal for America, it will still be hard to follow through, because he's definately not going to stay in office for that amount of time to make sure that goal is completed. While it's important for America to become more independent on energy sources that we can find, this is not an easy task to complete, because transitioning from oil imports to American resources might not be too predictable, when it comes to prices. One thing that I found interesting about this article was the critism that President Obama recieved by a Republican Senator, and how he reacted to it.


"Republicans have blamed Obama's policies for the rising gas prices, pointing to the slow pace of issuing permits for new offshore oil wells in the wake of last summer's massive Gulf of Mexico spill and an Obama-imposed moratorium on new deep-water exploration.
The president struck back at that criticism Wednesday, saying his administration has approved 39 shallow water drilling permits since new standards were put in place last year, and seven new deep-water drilling permits in recent weeks."

   While making the effort to initiate offshore drilling is important, and possibly crucial, if the Americans are to complete the president's goal, there has to be even more possible energy sources besides oil that can be used. While Obama's plan to cut oil imports may seem like a good idea, the problems with this outweight the benefits. You can't just cut something that we are constantly using. The US has to already be initiating offshore drilling and effectively using that oil before any oil imports are to be cut. If the president does not realize this, then his plan will backfire. It's one thing to have a plan and to set goals, but reducing imports without already using the oil from offshore drilling is not the best idea.
   Besides, even if the US successfully reduces oil imports from the Middle East, there are still cars that use oil for fuel, and not any "hybrid" power. There's no telling that oil prices will continue to increase, but for the people who drive regular cars, it will not be easy to pay for gasoline when the prices continue to rise.


In case you were interested in the actual article, the link is here.