Houston, you have a problem.
Your oil wells are dry-and it's not just Texas' sticky situation, either.
Oil is lodged ever so deep in the American way of life-as subterranean as it is in the Earth, at least for now. The great Oil Age that began in the hills of Pennsylvania more than 150 years ago will soon fade away into the annals of human history. We stand ill-prepared for the day when oil is no longer accessible to the masses-a day that many of us may see in our lifetimes.
According to a wide consensus of geologists, global oil output will peak within the next five to 15 years, after which it will become increasingly more difficult and expensive to extract the black gold. American oil production reached its apex in 1972 and our domestic oil wells are beginning to run dry. In 2005, a vast majority of America's 500,000 oil wells have been labeled \marginal"" and produce only a few barrels a day. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, nearly 60 percent of American-consumed oil in 2004 was imported from foreign sources. As we become more dependent on foreign oil we put our economic and national security in harm's way.
Given current consumption and population trends, today's level of access to oil will be compromised worldwide, as soon as 2050. Americans alone consume 20 million barrels of oil every day. Since oil is used not only in transportation but remains a chief component of plastics, pharmaceuticals, paints and apparel, the implications of a day without oil are devastating and widespread.
However oil-hungry our culture, attacking corporate America and its consumers is not the answer to long-term sustainability. We cannot solve the problem that consumption delivers. We must address the root of the problem, that oil is a finite resource. Rather than ridicule gas-guzzling SUV owners, Americans need to focus on effective and realistic sources of renewable energy.
Unfortunately, renewable energy use in America has seen its peak as well. The national use of renewables is down 17 percent since 1996. According to the Wisconsin Division of Energy, renewable resource use statewide increased a microscopic one-tenth of a percent in 2003-a disappointing statistic given the progressive history of Wisconsin.
Although not endowed with oil, the Midwest's geography places our region among the areas of greatest wind power potential in the world. Wind power is clean, affordable, sustainable and has great economic effects in rural communities. Currently, only 1 percent of America's power is created by wind. Wisconsin has a unique opportunity to shape the future of alternative energy use in America.
Gov. Doyle and the Wisconsin state legislature should take national leadership in the area of alternative energy and earmark a substantial amount of money for wind energy development in the 2005-'06 biennium. Indeed, some of the $750 million that Doyle wants to spend on embryonic stem cell research would be better spent on a less controversial and more scientifically reliable project.
Certainly, such an action won't solve the impending national energy crisis, but it's a good start with positive, local effects. It would draw greater attention in the marketplace to the increasing need for renewable energy, promoting the development of sustainable, accessible technologies in a practical manner. In the meantime, oil consumption will continue as planned and we must be prepared to tap known oil reserves to meet the ever-growing needs of our great society.
opinion@dailycardinal.com.
