Lecture discusses oil impact on U.S. politics

     GCSU struck oil Monday in the A&S Auditorium with an hour lecture from Dr. John S. Duffield who talked to GCSU students about the true costs of America’s foreign oil dependence. 
     With ample charts, figures and statistics, Duffield mapped out the multidimensional aspects of the hidden and not-so hidden costs of oil.
     The lecture focused on three forms of American oil dependence: import, market and indirect dependence, and also revealed both economic and policy costs of our unquenchable lust for oil. At the average consumption rate of 20 million barrels of oil a day, or 600 gallons of oil per person per year, Duffield put real numerical certainties on just how deep our addiction to oil truly is.
     Facts about oil consumption swirled around room—giving GCSU students plenty of information to digest.
     “I felt like he was very informative, and his charts really showed just how much our oil consumption has increased.” Samantha Adams, senior political science major, said.
     Besides the economic impacts of oil, Duffield also focused on unintended political consequences that come with a continuous need of foreign oil. Duffield explained that many foreign policies—especially with the Middle East—are led by our undeniable interest in oil, often leading us to overlook human rights violations or support corrupt leaders in order to secure a steady flow of oil.
     With Americans consuming about 50 percent more oil than any other country, political tensions regarding oil are bound to arise.
     “A market for oil is far from being a perfect market free from political externalities,” Duffield explained.
     For some students, the political costs of oil are of big concern.
     “I enjoyed listening to (Duffield) break down the costs,” Haly Hicks, senior political science major said. “The price of oil is only going to rise, and what is going to happened when our relations with the Middle East get even worse? It’s damn depressing!”
     Depressing as our nozzle candy addiction may be, Duffield’s lecture ended on a positive note, by presenting four potential solutions to breaking the oil habit.
     Duffield advised that the best solution is to refocus our transportation system to be more sustainable. Demanding higher fuel efficiency and alternative fuels may also be a way to wean us off oil, Duffield claims.  However the most effective method of curbing oil consumption just might be to adopt   Europe’s method of high taxes on gas to push people to find alternative ways to travel, Duffield suggests. Even though the thought of paying $6 a gallon at the Hop-In is enough to make anyone queasy, it might be the direction we are headed.
     Yet, some of Duffield’s solutions left a few students skeptical.
     “I didn’t really buy into the efficiency bit,” Chris O’Quinn, senior political science major, said. “We will run out of oil at some point, so it is only putting back the inevitable.”
     Whether the inevitable hits now or later, students left Duffield’s lecture with a sobering sense of just how costly dependence on oil is now and how much worse it may get once the oil supply runs dry.

Posted by Colonnade Archives on Feb 15 2008. Filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry