FEEDING THE BEAST:
ARE WE ADDICTED TO FOSSIL FUELS?
from CASAVARIA ECOLOGY PAGES

Taxpayer money is being used to increase funding for further dependence on fossil fuels and nuclear energy, even as demand among the public shifts to the need for alternative sources of energy. The entire in-ground oil wealth of the US is only 3% of global reserves, so the only way to decrease dependence on foreign oil is to move to new, renewable resources.

Annual government subsidies for exploration and exploitation of petroleum resources range from $5 billion to $11 billion. Some economists suggest that such statistics should include spending on the vital military defense of foreign oil fields and industries. This expenditure exceeds $30 billion a year.

As a national problem, the situation resembles an addiction, in that expenditure and policy do not follow any rigorous logical pattern designed to promote long-term health, but rather orient themselves toward a single, specific "demand" for consumption, with little regard to peripheral or explicit costs. But in this case, the problem of economic "withdrawal" symptoms can be solved by replacing dirty, inefficient, finite fuel sources with clean, efficient, renewable resources.

In recent years, polls by Gallup have shown 83% to 91% of all Americans favoring research to develop alternative and renewable clean energy sources, in order to stem environmental degradation and reduce the economic drain resulting from fossil fuels. People are becoming more aware than ever before of the real dangers of pollution, in its many forms. Not only is the climate affected, but millions of human beings die each year from the effects of such "primitive" energy sources.

In spite of the need, and the growing demand for a shift to smarter, cleaner, renewable resources, there have been efforts to double funding for fossil fuel research and development. According to a Montana Public Interest Research Group press release, HR 4, 107th Congress, was designed to increase such subsidies from an estimated $33 billion to an incredible $62 billion per year. According to Thomas, the Congressional website which tracks progress on proposed legislation, the last major action on this bill was October 3, 2002, when a conference was held to discuss the bill passed by the Senate which included an amendment to the initial House initiative.

Originally published at Ecovaria.com © 2002
Reproduced here by permission of Casavaria Publishing