by Roger Prather

Created on: December 03, 2008

Oil, its supply, demand, and price, has the uncanny ability to make markets rise and fall very quickly and very drastically. The economies of entire nations depend upon a ready, affordable supply of oil. Without oil machinery doesn't operate, employees don't drive to work; in short, the energy is sucked out of the economy - literally and figuratively. Not only is oil of economic concern, but it is also a national security concern because of its economic impact and because of the volatility in the governments of foreign oil producers on whom the U.S. relies. Because of its ability to cause drastic, volatile change, it is in the best interest of the United States to reduce its dependence of foreign oil with the ultimate goal of ending oil dependence altogether. Conservation is the only effective long-term way to do this because only conservation will reduce the need for oil while producing a new, long-term replacement for oil-based industries.

Increasing domestic production is proposed by many as the quickest and cheapest method of immediately reducing the need for foreign oil. And while doing so would, in fact, reduce somewhat the need to import oil, doing so is not a long-term, final solution to the foreign oil problem. At some point, domestic oil production will decrease, whether temporarily or permanently, and would cause an upswing in oil imports. Instead, the U.S. must seek ways to begin eliminating oil altogether as the primary source of energy.

Investing in greener, non-oil energy technology is a sustainable, long-term solution to the problem of oil importation. Oil is a finite, depletable fossil fuel. It will not last forever, and the more oil used, the less there will be to use in the future. The energy consumption of the U.S., China, India, and other large nations consistently increases from year to year. Therefore, the reduction of oil supplies begins to increase exponentially as the years go on. The United States possesses the technological and capital resources to innovate and improve on new technologies for energy production that do not require oil and other fossil fuels. These new technologies would not only reduce American demand for oil, but would also act to ease pressures on developing nations that have large demand for oil as they industrialize.

New green-energy technologies would also provide a replacement labor market in the U.S. energy sector. As the demand for oil decreases with new technology, the need for oil specific labor would also

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